China's sugar consumption is expected to rise about 5 percent on the year to stand at 15 million tonnes in the year to September 2014, the chairman of the Guangdong Sugar Association said on Friday. China consumes about 7 percent of world output and is often seen as a bright spot in an oversupplied sugar market. Its higher consumption should support global prices that are recovering from a 3-year low hit in July.
Liu Hande told an industry conference in Kunming that China's 2012/13 consumption could hit 14.3 million tonnes, an industry website said. No further details were available. His estimates exceeded a June Reuters poll that showed China's sugar consumption could reach 14.4 million tonnes in the next season, higher than 13.875 million estimated in the crop year to September 2013. Liu forecasts 2013/14 imports of 2.6 million tonnes, down from 3.6 million tonnes a year earlier.
China has imported 2.9 million tonnes of sugar in the first nine months of 2013, down about 3 percent from a year ago, official data show. Liu sees China's 2013/14 sugar output reaching between 13 million and 13.5 million tonnes, little changed from last year's 13.07 million.
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