Imports of raw sugar may fall below 1 million tons for the first time ever in 2012, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.
Sugar output may reach almost 5.1 million tons in the current season running through July following a record beet harvest of 50.5 million tons, IKAR, as the institute is known, said Wednesday. Inbound shipments of raw sugar came to 2.2 million tons this year, it said.
Farmers failed to harvest about 9 percent of this year's beet crop because of adverse weather, and at least 12 percent of the roots that were gathered will be lost while in storage, IKAR said.
(Bloomberg)
