India's sugar output seen falling below 30 mt in 2019-20 on dry weather

A drop in harvest for a second year will potentially cut overseas shipments and support global prices that fell 21 percent in 2018

Sugar output in India, which vies with Brazil as the world’s top producer, will likely drop to a three-year low next season as dry weather in some main growing areas of the western region cuts planting.

Production may decline to less than 30 million tons in the year that begins on Oct. 1 from an estimated 31.5 million tons this season, said Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. India produced record 32.5 million tons in 2017-18, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association.

A drop in harvest for a second year will potentially cut overseas