Cane Molasses
Blackstrap cane molasses by Brix, total sugars and ash in tanker parcels
Cane molasses is the syrup left after the last economic crystallisation of raw sugar, and it is bought on what a fermenter or a feed mixer can get out of it. The sheet leads with Brix (79–85°, a measure of dissolved solids that the seller controls by how far the syrup is concentrated), total sugars as invert (TSAI, 46–50% for sound blackstrap, with 48% the common contract minimum) and total reducing sugars, then sucrose (30–36%) and reducing sugars (12–20%) separately because a distillery cares about the split. Ash (10–14% sulphated) sits next, because ash is the mineral load the mill did not remove and it is what limits how much molasses can go into a ration or a mash; pH 5.0–6.0; and viscosity, which decides whether the cargo pumps at ambient in a Gulf tank farm or needs heating coils in a European winter. A fermentation buyer also asks for volatile acidity, sulphur dioxide and total nitrogen, and a rum distiller for a sample to run first. UN Comtrade 2025 export declarations under HS 1703 put Indonesia at 0.76 million MT at an average USD 128/MT FOB, Thailand at 0.49 million MT at USD 139, Australia at 0.21 million MT at USD 161, India at 51,000 MT at USD 197 and Pakistan at 36,000 MT at USD 121. Indonesia's own 2025 destination list shows the trade lanes: the Philippines 340,000 MT at USD 125, Korea 122,000 MT at USD 117, the Netherlands 101,000 MT at USD 123, Vietnam 47,000 MT, the United Kingdom 32,000 MT and Japan 30,000 MT at USD 196 — the Japanese premium being the higher-sugar, lower-ash lots. Korea's 2025 import declarations, 379,000 MT in total, show the landed spread: Thailand 139,000 MT at USD 192/MT CIF, Australia 113,000 MT at USD 178 and Indonesia 103,000 MT at USD 177.
The buyer is a yeast plant, a fuel or potable ethanol distillery, a compound-feed or liquid-feed manufacturer, a citric acid or MSG fermentation plant or a rum distillery, and each reads the same certificate differently: a yeast plant buys on fermentable sugars and low ash and will pay the Australian or Thai premium for consistency, a feed mill buys on Brix and price and blends it into pellets, molasses blocks and liquid feed, and a distillery calculates litres of alcohol per tonne from the TSAI and stops there. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers blackstrap cane molasses from Indonesian, Thai, Australian, Indian and Pakistani mills and trader positions against SGS or Intertek certification of Brix, TSAI, sucrose, reducing sugars, ash, pH and viscosity, with sampling at the load-port tank or the ship's manifold. Parcels are structured in 3,000–30,000 MT molasses and chemical tanker lots on FOB and CFR terms, and in flexitanks in 20ft containers for buyers below tanker size; because CBIL also runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk) that works product and chemical tankers, the tanker freight can be quoted alongside the cargo so a CFR offer and an FOB-plus-fixture number sit side by side. Send your TSAI floor, ash ceiling and discharge tank arrangements and we will work the origin to them.
Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices vegetable oil and molasses tanker chartering on LaycanDesk.
Indicative reference
$115–200 USD / MT
as at September 2026
Reference level only — not an offer, and reviewed quarterly. Levels shown are as at September 2026. Firm pricing is quoted per RFQ, subject to volume, terms and inspection.
Typical Specification
Specifications are indicative and adjusted to the agreed contract and destination requirements. Final spec confirmed on COA / SGS.
Available Grades
Applications
- Baker's yeast & yeast extract
- Fuel & potable ethanol distilling
- Rum distilling
- Compound, liquid & block animal feed
- Citric acid, lysine & MSG fermentation
- Soil conditioners & biostimulants
Category
Agriculture & Fertilizers
Incoterms
FOB · CFR · CIF
Pricing basis
USD / MT
Inspection
SGS / Intertek at load port
Cane Molasses — buyer questions
What does 'total sugars as invert' mean and why is it the price driver?
Sucrose plus reducing sugars, expressed as if all of it were inverted (split into glucose and fructose) — the form a yeast actually ferments. A blackstrap lot at 48% TSAI gives a distillery roughly 280–300 litres of absolute alcohol per tonne, so a two-point shortfall is a direct yield loss and most contracts carry a pro rata price adjustment on TSAI below the guarantee, with rejection a few points lower. Ask for TSAI, not 'total sugars', and state the analytical method (Lane and Eynon is the usual one) in the contract.
Why is Australian molasses dearer than Indonesian into the same port?
Because it is a different product in the fermenter. UN Comtrade's 2025 Korean import declarations show Australian molasses at USD 178/MT CIF and Indonesian at USD 177, close on paper, but at origin Australia declares USD 161/MT FOB against Indonesia's USD 128, and the Japanese lots ex Indonesia go at USD 196. The premium buys higher and more consistent TSAI, lower ash and cleaner fermentation, which a yeast plant or a distillery pays for and a feed mill does not. Tell us which of the two you are before we quote.
What parcel sizes and vessels carry molasses?
Dedicated molasses tankers and IMO 2/3 chemical or product tankers with heating coils, in parcels from 3,000 MT up to 30,000 MT, loading at mill jetties in Java, Lampung, Thailand's eastern seaboard and Queensland into shore tanks at the discharge port. Below tanker size it moves in 20ft flexitanks of 20–22 MT each. Because CBIL also runs a chartering desk that works product and chemical tankers, we can quote the freight leg with the cargo. Viscosity governs the pumping rate and whether heating is needed, so give us the discharge tank temperature.
How is the cargo sampled and what does the certificate cover?
By SGS or Intertek at the load port, from the shore tank before loading and from the ship's tanks after, with the ship's-tank sample governing unless the contract says otherwise. The certificate covers Brix, TSAI, sucrose, reducing sugars, sulphated ash, pH and viscosity, with sulphur dioxide, volatile acidity, total nitrogen and heavy metals on request for fermentation and feed buyers. Weight is by shore-tank ullage or ship's figures against a surveyor's draft, and the buyer can name a discharge-port re-analysis.
Ready to source Cane Molasses?
Send your quantity, specification, preferred Incoterms and destination port. We'll verify supply and respond with a workable offer — usually within one business day.
Have Cane Molasses to sell? Submit an offer — we'll match it against live buyer demand.