India, the world’s largest sugar consuming nation, may import a record of six million tonnes in the 2009-10 season due to a sharp dip in domestic production, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report. Last season, the country purchased almost 2.8 million tonnes sugar from the global market, it said. Sugar season runs from October to September.
“Assuming relatively stable international sugar prices, India’s sugar imports during 2009-10 are forecast to reach a record six million tonnes, of which about five million tonnes will be raw sugar and one million tonnes will be refined sugar,” the USDA projected in its latest report titled ‘Sugar: World production, supply and distribution’. Quoting industry sources, the report said mills have already contracted about 2.5 million tonnes of raw sugar for imports in the first quarter (October-December) of the 2009-10 season.