India is likely to import 1 million tonnes of sugar in 2016/17 as its consumption could outpace production, sugar trader Benoit Boisleux at Louis Dreyfus Commodities said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Indian Sugar Mills Association anticipated a drop in local production of the sweetener to drop below consumption for the first time in seven years.
"Based on the current prices, we see a higher possibility for 1 million tonnes of import scenario," Boisleux told the Kingsman Asia Sugar Conference in New Delhi.
Louis Dreyfus expects India to consume about 25.5 million tonnes of sugar in 2016/17 compared with a production of about 22.5 million tonnes, he said.