Sugar was 1% lower on Thursday morning, as the prospect of fresh output hitting the market encouraged traders to take profit.
 
According to Bloomberg News, India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, will decide on 21 November whether to allow fresh sugar exports. Farouk Mahmoud Osman, deputy general manager at state-owned Sudanese Sugar, said Sudan will increase its sugar output to address a shortage in Africa’s third-biggest producer. Separate news reports revealed that China’s sugar prices may decline as a new sweetener hits the market, while China’s National Development and Reform Commission said the country’s edible sugar output is poised to increase by one-and-a-half million tons this crushing season.
 
Global sugar production is expected to outpace demand by about five million tons in the 2011-12 season – which started last month – brokers at Marex Spectron Group estimate. The price gap between March sugar delivery and later months is narrowing, indicating supply tightness may be easing. ‘The forward curve is flattening, suggesting that the front months are coming under pressure from the expected bumper harvests in the Northern Hemisphere.