A Global Sugar Binge Has Surprised Even the World’s Top Traders Bloomberg 1/23/2021 (Bloomberg) -- Even with restaurants, cinemas and stadiums shut, people kept binging on sugar. Popular Searches A home-baking frenzy, stimulus checks and stockpiling all meant that global demand fared quite well last season, proving wrong some of the world’s top sugar traders. What’s more, consumption is set to rebound to a record in the year that began in October, according to Tom McNeill, a director at Brisbane, Australia-based researcher Green Pool Commodity Specialists. That’s a stark turnaround from the early phases of the coronavirus crisis, when lockdowns from Paris to Los Angeles hit sales of everything from softs drinks to chocolate. People have now adapted to pandemic life, government handouts in places like the U.S. and Brazil kept consumers shopping and importing nations in Asia stockpiled to ensure supplies in case of shipping disruptions.