ICUMSA is a color scale: the lower the number, the whiter and more refined the sugar. But "lower" does not mean "better for every operation" — it means more processing embedded in the price.
ICUMSA 45: ready for consumption
It is the most exported refined standard in the world, aimed at retail and at food and beverage industries that need a finished product. You pay for refining at origin and for bagged-cargo logistics.
VHP: volume to refine at destination
Very High Polarization sugar (polarization ≥ 99.4°) travels in bulk, with a significantly lower logistics cost per ton. It is the choice of refineries that add the refining step at destination and of operations that prioritize scale.
- ICUMSA 45 — bags or big bags, containers, direct consumer markets.
- VHP — break bulk, bulk carriers, refining at destination.
- ICUMSA 150–1200 — specific industrial applications between the two extremes.
The math that decides
The question is not "which sugar is better", but "where does it make sense to pay for refining: at origin or at destination?"
Operations with their own or a partner refinery at destination lean toward VHP; distributors and industries without a refining step, toward ICUMSA 45. Freight, incoterm and the receiving port structure complete the math.