'Sugar supply may outpace demand by 8 mn tonnes'

Sugar supplies may outpace demand by as much as 8 million tonnes next season, a second consecutive year of surplus, according to Singapore-based trader Olam International Ltd. Production will be 6 million to 8 million tonnes higher than consumption in the 2012-13 season starting in October, after a surplus of 9 million tonnes in 2011-12, Piero Carello, general manager of the company's sugar division in Europe, and John Stansfield, a senior analyst, said in an interview in Dubai on Saturday before the opening of an annual sugar conference organized by Kingsman SA, a broker and researcher.

The cane crop in Brazil's Center South, the main growing region of the world's biggest producer, will climb to 520 million tonnes in 2012-13, they said. That compares with 492.7 million tonnes in the current season, data from industry group Unica show. Harvesting of the 2012-13 crop in Brazil starts in April. In most countries, the season begins in October. India's production will rise by one million tonnes to 27 million tonnes in 2012-13, they said.