Global 2013-14 sugar-surplus forecast raised 8.3% by Green Pool

The global sugar surplus will be 8.3 per cent bigger than previously forecast, as output expands in leading producer Brazil and in Thailand, the second-largest exporter, according to Green Pool Commodity Specialists Pty.

Supplies will be 5.046 million tonnes (mt) higher than demand in the 2013-14 season started October 1 in most countries, said the Brisbane, Australia-based researcher. That's up from a September forecast of 4.66 mt. Green Pool's supply and demand balances are on a national crop year-basis, which starts when the harvest begins in each producing country.

While there was "more than enough price incentive for two to three years to get a production response," weather conditions weren't adequate, Tom McNeill, a director, said. "One year of good weather and suddenly we are back to the normal production cycle."