Sugar crops in India and Thailand are showing promising signs in the final stages of sugarcane harvesting, indicating a rise in sugar supplies in the region, according to Wilmar, a commodities trader based in Singapore.
Karim Salamon, head of sugar analysis at Wilmar, stated in remarks provided to Reuters, “Thailand tail crop is much better than expected.”
He anticipates that sugarcane crushing in Thailand will reach up to 85 million metric tons, resulting in sugar production ranging from 8.5 million to 9 million tons.
“This represents an additional one million tons of sugar compared to most forecasts just three weeks ago. With such crop, Far-East S&D (supply and demand) is balanced,” he remarked.
Salamon noted that India’s crop progress is on target to surpass expectations, mentioning that there are currently 462 mills operational in the country compared to 441 mills at the same period last year.
“Despite lower monsoon rainfall in the summer of 2023, Indian sugar production is poised to exceed 32.5 million tons and is highly likely to surpass 33 million tons, almost similar to last year,” he added.
