After only getting one offer, the Syrian government withdrew its tender to purchase white sugar twice. Syria had issued a tender to purchase 276,000 tonnes of white sugar two times. A government tendering refers to the procurement of goods and services in behalf of public authority, such as a government agency. The first round closed on July 26 and the most recent round closed on August 13.

An official of the government's General Foreign Trade Organization told Reuters, "We only got one offer and so we had to cancel, we will be re-tendering for the same quantity soon." The official, however, did not wish to be identified.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had issued the government tender to buy basic commodities like wheat, sugar, rice and flour since July. His move came as the humanitarian crisis had worsened in the country currently in the midst of a civil war.

International traders, however, had continued to shy away from doing deals. Reuters reported that the traders had expressed apprehension about doing business in the country as Syria's financial system had been hit by Western sanctions.