| Mills may export as much as 2.4 million tonnes of sugar in the year to September, including 900,000 tonnes in the raw form, Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of Maharashtra State Co- operative Sugar Factories Federation said in an interview from Pune. The state may produce 9.7 million tonnes this year, 7 per cent more from last year, he said. |
| Increased exports from the country may pressure prices of white sugar, which have fallen by a third in the past year on rising production in the world's leading producers. The global sugar market is headed for a surplus of 10.8 million tonnes, according to the International Sugar Organization. |
| India will surpass Brazil this year as the world's top producer, the ISO said. |
| "Export inquiries are dull at the moment and we expect demand to pick up from November,'' Naiknavare said. "Global sugar prices seem to have stabilised for the moment though no major improvement is seen in the near term.'' |
| White, or refined, sugar for December delivery declined $2.20, or 0.8 per cent, to $270.2 a tonne as of 10:48 am in London. Sugar has fallen 21 per cent this year. |
| Producers have agreed to sell 300,000 tonnes of raw sugar to the country's Sugar Exim Corp, a producer-funded company that has won contracts to ship 550,000 tonnes between December and March. Mills may ship as much as 1.5 million tonnes of refined sugar this year, compared with 1.1 tonnes of last year. |
| Some sugar mills in Maharashtra have begun crushing cane from the new crop and output may peak in November, Naiknavare said. Mills expect a sugar recovery of 11.4 per cent from every ton of sugar cane crushed, he said. |
| Sugar output in India may reach a record 29 million tonnes in the year to September 30, 2008, exceeding local demand of about 19 million tonnes, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on October 3. |
| The country had reserves of 11.9 million tonnes on September 30, enough to meet demand for more than seven months. |
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