By 1740, worldwide sugar prices had dropped to half the price in 1720.

The sugar price had dropped from £32 10s to £31 2s 9d.

Significantly lower sugar prices in that country were the reason behind the move.

The plunge extended a 13-month decline that has cut sugar prices in half since March 1990.

Big food companies have been reluctant to promise any price cuts if sugar prices fall.

American sugar prices are kept at levels well above the world market through a quota system.

Reduced supplies increase sugar prices here to at least twice the world market price.

The sugar price hasn't risen since 1981 and labor costs have gone way up.

That is why retail sugar prices in much of the third world are often kept low by government subsidies.

The result was that sugar prices did not fall, they simply increased.