Alum is a salt that in chemistry is a combination of an alkali metal, such as sodium, potassium, or ammonium and a trivalent metal, such as aluminum, iron, or chromium.
USDA allocates a share of the anticipated U.S. sugar market to sugar producers annually. This allotment basically determines the amount of sugar an individual company is allowed to sell that year. However, these allotments can be, and often are, adjusted based on harvest conditions.
The Top Factors that Move the Price of Sugar. According to USDA, about 160 million metric tons of sugar are produced every year. The top five producers of the commodity, as of 2012, include Brazil, India, the European Union, China and Thailand. The US is the sixth largest producer of sugar.