India signs contracts to export 600,000 metric tonnes of sugar

Indian mills have contracts to export 600,000 metric tonnes of sugar in the 2024/25 marketing year ending in September, but are reluctant to sign further export deals as local prices have increased, five industry officials told Reuters.

The slower pace of shipments from India, the world’s second biggest sugar producer, will support global prices LSUc1, SBc1, which are trading near their lowest level in three years.

After halting exports last year to calm domestic prices, India in January allowed exports of 1 million tonnes of sugar during the current season to help mills to export surplus stocks.

But as domestic sugar prices strengthen and are expected to rise further because of lower production and anticipated summer season demand, a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said, exports had slowed this month after picking up last month.

All the sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press.

India’s sugar output for the 2024/25 marketing year is expected to fall to 25.8 million tonnes compared to annual consumption of 29 million tonnes.

Consumption of cold drinks and ice cream rises in India during the summer months, roughly from mid-March to mid-June, boosting demand for sugar to sweeten them.

Mills have dispatched around 250,000 tonnes of the 600,000 tonnes in export contracts signed since January, another New-Delhi based dealer said.

Indian prices of low-quality white sugar are hovering nearly $20 per tonne above London futures, prompting buyers to source better-quality Brazilian sugar that is available at the same price, said another Mumbai-based dealer with a trade house.

India, which sells sugar to countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, was the world’s No. 2 exporter during the five years to 2022-23, with volumes averaging 6.8 million tonnes annually.

Despite the current slowdown, mills will be able to export the entire quota of 1 million tons, said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd.

“Mills have plenty of time. They can export sugar anytime they find a good price until the end of September,” Naiknavare said.