India, once the world’s second-largest sugar exporter, is expected to have little surplus for export for at least three more seasons as El Nino weather conditions threaten cane production and rising ethanol demand squeezes supply.
The twin pressures are poised to keep millions of tons of sugar off the world market, tightening supplies for importers across Asia, Africa and West Asia and supporting benchmark prices in London and New York. A prolonged absence by India from export markets would remove a key balancing supplier as weather risks and biofuel policies reshape global sugar trade flows.
