India could import 1 million T sugar in 2016/17 - Louis Dreyfus

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is likely to import 1 million tonnes of sugar in 2016/17 as its consumption could outpace production, sugar trader Benoit Boisleux at Louis Dreyfus Commodities said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Indian Sugar Mills Association anticipated a drop in local production of the sweetener to drop below consumption for the first time in seven years.

"Based on the current prices, we see a higher possibility for 1 million tonnes of import scenario," Boisleux told the Kingsman Asia Sugar Conference in New Delhi.

Louis Dreyfus expects India to consume about 25.5 million tonnes of sugar in 2016/17 compared with a production of about 22.5 million tonnes, he said.

 

(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Malini Menon)