Indian sugar futures drop

Indian sugar futures eased on Monday as surplus supplies from local production and imports offset an improvement in demand due to the summer season. The key June contract on India's National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was down 0.34 percent at 2,962 rupees per 100 kg at 0936 GMT.
"Bulk consumers are buying more than last week, but supplies are ample. Mills are aggressively floating tenders to sell sugar," said a New Delhi-based dealer. Mills usually pay farmers a large chunk of the cane price immediately after harvest or within two weeks.
Demand for sugar from ice-cream and beverage makers typically rises during summer. Spot sugar edged up 2 rupees to 3,041 rupees per 100 kg in Kolhapur market in top-producing Maharashtra state. India is likely to produce 24.6 million tonnes of sugar in 2012-13, an industry body has said, against an annual demand of about 23 million tonnes. Indian sugar mills produced 24.52 million tonnes of the sweetener between October 1, 2012 and April 30, about 3 percent less than a year earlier, a leading industry body said.