Thai raw sugar premiums have fallen as subdued global prices, weak demand and rising supplies from top producer Brazil thwarted mills' efforts to clinch export deals, dealers said on Thursday.
Thailand, the world's second-biggest exporter, shipped out 1.4 million tonnes of sugar in the first quarter of 2015 and another 200,000 tonnes in the first two weeks of April, they said.
Thai mills have produced 11 million tonnes of sugar in the current 2014/15 season.
With 3 million tonnes for local consumption, Thailand is now sitting on an exportable surplus of 6.4 million tonnes that mills are struggling to sell on the world market.
"January, February and March are the peak months for exports from Thailand but sales have been rather slow this year, leaving a large surplus with mills," said a dealer in Singapore.
Premiums for the widely traded high polarisation, or hipol, raws were at 25 points above the front-month New York contract , down from 32 points last week.
On Wednesday, May raw sugar settled down 0.19 cent, or 1.4 percent, at 13.00 cents a lb.
Reuters analyst Wang Tao said New York May sugar was expected to drop into a range of 12.76-12.88 cents per lb as it has cleared support at 13.02 cents.
The premium for J-spec, the low-quality Thai raws favoured by Japanese buyers, was quoted at 40 points above the New York contract against 45 points in the previous week.
Thai white sugar premiums were at $11 a tonne to London futures, down from $15 last week. On Wednesday, May white sugar closed down $1.50, or 0.4 percent, to $370 per tonne, after open interest fell by 2,608 lots to just 3,842 lots on Tuesday.
Trade house ED&F Man was expected to be the sole buyer of 183,750 tonnes of white sugar delivered against the ICE May refined sugar futures contract, which expired on Wednesday.
Sugar supplies from India will compete with exports from Thailand.
India's food minister said he would propose raising the import duty on sugar to 40 percent from 25 percent as a preventive measure to protect farmers. The country has amassed massive stocks through bumper local harvests.
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