Buyer guide · updated 29 September 2026
ICUMSA 45 vs ICUMSA 150 vs VHP: which sugar do you need?
ICUMSA 45 is refined white sugar, the grade behind the ICE No. 5 white sugar contract. ICUMSA 150 is a mill white or crystal sugar: white, but not refined. VHP is raw cane sugar, bought by refiners to process further. The number is colour, measured in ICUMSA units: the lower it is, the whiter the sugar. Your own product spec decides the grade, not the price. Most of what Brazil exports is raw: about 87% of its sugar exports in 2025.
The three grades side by side
| Grade | Colour | Polarisation | Reference standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICUMSA 45 (refined white) | 45 ICUMSA units max | 99.8° min | ICE No. 5 white sugar contract, which also sets moisture at 0.06% max |
| ICUMSA 150 (mill white, crystal) | 150 ICUMSA units max | 99.5° min | Codex standard for sugars, “plantation or mill white sugar” |
| VHP (raw) | Not the defining spec | Priced on polarisation; the ICE No. 11 raw contract is based on 96° | ICE No. 11 raw sugar contract |
Two points people get wrong. ICUMSA 150 is not “refined”; it sits in the Codex band for mill white sugar. And VHP is often offered as “VHP 600–1200”. That range describes colour, but raw sugar is bought and sold on polarisation, so read the pol figure first.
What the ICUMSA number actually measures
ICUMSA is not a scale. It is the international body that publishes the uniform laboratory methods for sugar analysis. Colour is reported in ICUMSA units (IU). For white sugar up to 50 IU, method GS2-10 (2024) measures how much light at 420 nm a filtered sugar solution absorbs. A separate method, GS2-9, covers sugars up to 600 IU.
Name the method in your contract. Refined Sugar Association rules apply a default colour method unless the contract says otherwise, and a dispute over colour usually becomes a dispute over which method was used.
Not sure which grade your spec calls for? Send it with your volume and port, and I will tell you which one it reads as.
Send a requirement →How the grades are priced
Each grade has an exchange benchmark. ICE No. 5 in London is the refined white sugar contract, quoted in US dollars per tonne, in lots of 50 tonnes delivered in 50 kg bags. ICE No. 11 in New York is the raw sugar contract, quoted in US cents per pound, in lots of 112,000 lb. What you pay for sugar landed at your port is that benchmark plus freight, packaging, lot size and timing, which is why an honest quote needs your port and volume first. The ICUMSA 45 page explains what sits between the screen and your port.
How much sugar fits in a container?
Roughly 25 to 27 tonnes of bagged sugar in a 20ft container. Loading guidance republished by Gard, a marine insurer, gives 540 bags of 50 kg, which is 27 tonnes. So two containers is about 50 tonnes, and a Handymax vessel cargo is hundreds of containers’ worth. More on shipping by container in buying Brazilian sugar by the container.
Which one should you buy?
- You make food or drinks, or sell into supermarkets: start from ICUMSA 45 unless your own specification allows more colour.
- Your specification allows up to 150 IU: ICUMSA 150 may meet it. Check your customer’s spec sheet, not the offer.
- You run a refinery: you want raw sugar, bought on polarisation.
Whatever the grade, ask for the specification sheet and make an independent certificate of quality a document your bank requires before it pays. See what protects you if sugar arrives off-spec.
Sources
- ICUMSA, Method GS2-10 (2024), white sugar colour: https://www.icumsa.org/methods/icumsa-method-gs2-10-2024/; Method GS2-9 (2024): https://www.icumsa.org/methods/icumsa-method-gs2-9-2024/
- ICE Futures Europe, White Sugar Futures contract rules, Section IIII: https://www.ice.com/publicdocs/contractregs/107_SECTION_IIII.pdf
- ICE, Sugar No. 11 Futures: https://www.ice.com/products/23/sugar-no-11-futures
- Codex Alimentarius, Standard for Sugars CXS 212-1999: https://www.fao.org/input/download/standards/338/CXS_212e_u.pdf
- Refined Sugar Association, Rules Relating to Contracts, effective 26 Aug 2026, Rule 5: https://sugarassociation.co.uk/
- ComexStat (MDIC), Brazilian exports by NCM 1701.14 and 1701.99, calendar year 2025: https://comexstat.mdic.gov.br/
- Proinde, Loading Sugar in Brazil: Practical Guidance, Oct 2021, republished by Gard, 1 Dec 2021: https://gard.no/en/insights/carriage-bagged-refined-sugar-bulk-carriers/
Checked on 29 September 2026. Rules and web pages change; check the source before you rely on a detail.