India likely to continue sugar exports in 2018-2019 season

DUBAI (Reuters) - India is likely to continue exporting sugar in the 2018-2019 season, Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, said on Tuesday.

"The exportable quantity will be best understood around July 2018," Verma said at the Dubai Sugar Conference.

The Indian sugar industry will likely export 1 million tonnes in the 2017-2018 marketing year, which runs to Sept. 30, he said.

A good monsoon has increased India's production estimates for the 2017-2018 marketing year by 4 percent to 26.1 million tonnes of sugar.

India, the world's largest consumer of the sweetner, is expected to consume 25 million tonnes this marketing year, giving millers the scope to export the surplus.

For the 2018-2019 year, Verma said it was too early to estimate production.

"It is difficult to estimate now as only 20 percent of the planting has taken place," he said, adding that he expected the crop to be higher than the current year.

(Reporting By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Richard Pullin)