Bloomberg: Sugar output in China, the third- biggest producer, may decline by as much as 300,000 metric tons after snow and frost this year damaged crops, Beijing-based brokerage Wanda Futures Co. said. About 40 percent of the sugarcane in Guangxi, the biggest growing-region, may have been affected by freezing weather, analyst Cui Shiwei said by phone yesterday. The reduction in output is 4 percent of Wanda’s previous forecast for Guangxi, he said. Wanda Futures is the second-biggest brokerage by volume based on rankings by the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
Frost damaged about 13 percent of sugar crops in Guangxi, according to statistics given by the China News Service. Reduced output may boost imports of sugar, which surged 57 percent in January-November from the previous year as domestic output failed to keep pace with growing demand.
“It’s clear the cane has been damaged, and the market has expected China’s output to be 11 million to 11.5 million tons,” down from the initial forecast, said Parin Amatyakul, vice president of Mitr Phol Sugar Corp., Thailand’s biggest miller, by phone from Bangkok. “How it may boost imports depends on how much China has in reserves and when it buys.”
The China Sugar Association on Nov. 10 estimated Guangxi output in the crushing season that began in Nov. 1 to be 7.6 million tons, about 63 percent of China’s total of 12 million tons, according to Guangxi Sugar Market Net, the country’s biggest bulk-sugar exchange.
The forecasts are for China winter weather to worsen. Read more at Bloomberg.….
