India's sugar output set to rebound to record next year, potentially reviving exports

SOLAPUR, India, Dec 10 (Reuters) - India is set to produce a record amount of sugar in the next marketing year from October after millions of farmers expanded cane cultivation, encouraged by ample water supplies and falling prices for competing crops, farmers and industry officials told Reuters. The recovery in output would allow the world’s second-largest sugar producer to resume exports in 2025/26, they said, after a lack of rain reduced cane yields and led to two years of restrictions. Indian exports could cap global sugar prices, traders said, by boosting supplies on the world market at a time when dry weather is expected to reduce shipments from top producer Brazil. “Last year, we were unable to plant sugarcane because there was no water available for irrigation. This year, we have plenty of water as rainfall has been good,” said farmer Amar Chavan, who has planted sugarcane on 2.4 hectares (6 acres) in Solapur district in the western state of Maharashtra. Farmers in Solapur ...