Indonesia has revised down its white sugar output forecast from its 2009 crushing season to 2.7 million tonnes, down from a previous estimate of 2.9 million tonnes, an agriculture ministry official said on Tuesday citing weather conditions. "In some (sugar cane) growing areas, weather condition in was not conducive," said Achmad Mangga Barani, director general of plantation crops at the agriculture ministry. He did not elaborate.
Barani said the government's recent decision to allow sugar millers to import 183,000 tonnes of raw sugar, which will be processed into white sugar for direct consumption, should help offset lower output and create sugar stocks of around 800,000 tonnes by the end of 2009. "That stock should be enough (to meet demand) until next year's crushing season," he said.
Most sugar millers in Indonesia start crushing in May but some firms in Sumatra normally begin earlier. State-run PTPN II in North Sumatra would normally start crushing in February while millers in Lampung on the southern part of Sumatra start in April.