Indian sugar mills have secured contracts to export 600,000 metric tons of sugar in the 2024/25 marketing year but are pausing further deals due to rising domestic prices, according to industry officials. The slowdown from the world’s second-largest sugar producer is expected to prop up global prices, which currently hover near three-year lows.
India’s government permitted 1 million tons of exports this season to offload surplus stocks, but local prices have climbed amid forecasts of reduced production (25.8 million tons vs. 29 million tons of annual demand) and rising summer demand for cold drinks and ice cream. Only 250,000 tons of the contracted 600,000 tons have been shipped so far.
Indian low-quality white sugar is now priced nearly $20/ton above London futures, driving buyers to cheaper, higher-quality Brazilian supplies. Despite the slowdown, Prakash Naiknavare of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. expressed confidence that mills will meet the full 1-million-ton quota by September’s deadline.