Sales of Thai white sugar to India, the world's largest sugar consumer, are expected to reach 200,000 tonnes before the New Year, with around 75,000 tonnes already traded so far, dealers said on Wednesday. India has allowed mills to import duty-free raw sugar until March and white sugar up to November to ensure ample domestic supply during the August-October festive season, when demand for sugar goes up as people consume more sweets and confectionaries.
"I personally think 200,000 metric tonnes of sugar from Thailand will reach India before the New Year," said Kun Chalermkiatkul, international marketing manager at Mitr Phol Sugar, Thailand's biggest sugar miller.
India was estimated to have imported 215,000 tonnes of white sugar from various sources, with around 30 percent coming from Thailand, said Kun, adding that Thai whites were on par with London's October contract and at a discount of $15 over December. India is filling the supply gap with imports after poor monsoon rains cut domestic output. India has also imported around 100,000 tonnes of Brazilian whites and 22,000 tonnes from Myanmar, dealers said.
Thailand is the world's second-largest sugar exporter after Brazil. London's December white sugar fell $1.30 to close at $572.70 per tonne on Tuesday due to technical selling and fears of waning demand. It struck a record high of $603.6 two weeks ago. A Singapore-based dealer put India's white sugar imports at 216,000 tonnes so far, with 75,000 tonnes from Thailand. "Our data also shows India has bought just over 100,000 tonnes of whites from Brazil.
Myanmar is the other white seller of about 22,000 tonnes, and UAE with less than 4,000 tonnes," he said. India has been largely absent from the Thai market for several years but tight domestic supply has forced it to import more, the main factor behind the rise in world prices in recent months, dealers said.
In the current 2009/10 crop, Thailand is forecast to produce around 7.6 million tonnes of sugar from around 72-76 million tonnes of cane. Demand from India also sent raw sugar futures in New York to a 28-1/2-year high above 24 US cents per pound two weeks ago but profit taking has erased some of the gains.