<p>Mumbai: Indian mills have contracts to export 6,00,000 metric tons of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sugar">sugar</a> 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 <em>Reuters</em>.</p><p>The slower pace of shipments from India, the world's second biggest sugar producer, will support global prices, which are trading near their lowest level in three years.</p><p>After halting exports last year to calm domestic prices, India in January allowed exports of 1 million tons of sugar during the current season to help mills to export surplus stocks.</p><p>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.</p><p>All the sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press.</p><p>India's sugar output for the 2024/25 marketing year is expected to fall to 25.8 million tons compared to annual consumption of 29 million tons.</p>.World food commodity prices fall in January; sugar, vegetable oil costs see sharp decline: FAO.<p>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.</p><p>Mills have dispatched around 2,50,000 tons of the 6,00,000 tons in export contracts signed since January, another New-Delhi based dealer said.</p><p>Indian prices of low-quality white sugar are hovering nearly $20 per ton 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.</p><p>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 tons annually.</p><p>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.</p><p>"Mills have plenty of time. They can export sugar anytime they find a good price until the end of September," Naiknavare said.</p>
<p>Mumbai: Indian mills have contracts to export 6,00,000 metric tons of <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/sugar">sugar</a> 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 <em>Reuters</em>.</p><p>The slower pace of shipments from India, the world's second biggest sugar producer, will support global prices, which are trading near their lowest level in three years.</p><p>After halting exports last year to calm domestic prices, India in January allowed exports of 1 million tons of sugar during the current season to help mills to export surplus stocks.</p><p>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.</p><p>All the sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press.</p><p>India's sugar output for the 2024/25 marketing year is expected to fall to 25.8 million tons compared to annual consumption of 29 million tons.</p>.World food commodity prices fall in January; sugar, vegetable oil costs see sharp decline: FAO.<p>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.</p><p>Mills have dispatched around 2,50,000 tons of the 6,00,000 tons in export contracts signed since January, another New-Delhi based dealer said.</p><p>Indian prices of low-quality white sugar are hovering nearly $20 per ton 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.</p><p>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 tons annually.</p><p>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.</p><p>"Mills have plenty of time. They can export sugar anytime they find a good price until the end of September," Naiknavare said.</p>