China will release some 200,000 tonnes of raw sugar from reserves to help cap rising domestic prices for refined sugar, which are nearing a record high, a government official said on Tuesday.
The raw sugar would be sold in two batches to sugar plants to refine before selling to the domestic market ahead of the Lunar New Year, a Commerce Ministry official told Reuters. The Chinese New Year begins on January 29 in 2006.
Sugar plants in major producing southern areas cannot secure enough cane and have delayed crushing for about half a month. The delay has led to tightness of supply at home and speculation of even higher prices by some sugar firms which are holding on to stocks, said the ministry. Too big a rise in prices would harm consumption and the industry, it said in a joint notice with the National Development and Reform Commission at www.ndrc.gov.cn.
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