It was not until the eighteenth century that sugarcane cultivation was began in the United States, where it was planted in the southern climate of New Orleans. It was 1872 before a factory, built in California, was finally able to successfully produce sugar in a profitable manner. Almost all of commercially manufactured sugar is white granulated sugar, which may have been refined in factories. These sugars are then classified as either extra coarse, coarse, standard, fine, or extra fine granulated. Other types of sugar, such as brown sugar, are produced with a slight variance from that of white sugar.
Brown sugar is made by retaining much of the molasses during processing.
Candy sugar, used mainly by the brewing industry, consists of very large white crystals of sugar. Liquid sugar is made chiefly from cane sugar, while cubed sugar is processed by molding granular sugar with a sugary liquid to help cement the crystals together. The largest producer of sugarcane is Asia, which is then followed by South America and North America. The largest producers of sugar beets are Germany, the U.S., and France. The state of Hawaii, a leader in the manufacturing of sugarcane, produces more than six million tons of sugar cane each year.