Sugar output in India's key cane producing Uttar Pradesh is seen at 6.4 million tonnes in 2010/11, the state's additional cane commissioner said, suggesting floods have not hit as hard as forecast last week. Concern over the potential damage to production from floods which have left millions homeless in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states have been driving global sugar prices higher.
"There is no worry over sugar production in U.P. due to floods," R.V. Mishra told reporters after a meeting with food ministry officials on Tuesday. India, the world's biggest consumer of sugar, remains on track to export this year. Last week, government and state officials forecast output could be 6.0 million to 6.2 million tonnes because of flooding, compared with an earlier state government forecast of 6.8 million tonnes.
Uttar Pradesh is still on track to produce more than this season's 5.8 million tonnes, when output was hit by a severe drought and India, the world's top sugar consumer, had to import quantities of the sweetener which pushed up global prices. This year, monsoon rains which usually start to retreat from the beginning of September have persisted, triggering floods which have left millions homeless and raised concerns of damage to crops and pest outbreaks. Mishra said floods had affected 10 percent of the cane growing areas in the state. Sugar output in India, the world's biggest producer behind Brazil, was at 18.8 million tonnes in 2009/10.
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