Indian sugar futures were steady on Friday as subdued demand and higher supplies for the December-to-March period outweighed a delay in cane crushing in Uttar Pradesh, the country's second biggest sugar producing state. At 0946 GMT, the key December contract on India's National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was up 0.12 percent at 3,322 rupees ($60.95)per 100 kg.
Sugar nudged down 3 rupees to 3,443 rupees per 100 kg at the Kolhapur spot market in top-producing Maharashtra state. "Demand was weak, but mills are expecting an improvement in demand from north India in next two weeks as crushing has been delayed there," said a member of Bombay Sugar Merchants Association.
In northern Uttar Pradesh, farmers and mills are waiting for the state government to announce the state-advised price for cane. A likely rise in import duty also underpinned sentiment, dealers said. India currently imposes a 10 percent import tax on sugar. The government has allowed sugar mills to sell 7 million tonnes of sugar in the open market between December and March, including 200,000 tonnes of unsold stocks from the October-November period, slightly higher than the average monthly allocations of about 1.7 million tonnes.