Global sugar market swinging from deficit to small surplus, says Dreyfus

The sugar market will switch from a large deficit of 5.2 million metric tons in 2024/25 to a small surplus of 400,000 tons in 2025/26, with higher output in India offsetting a smaller crop in Brazil, commodities trader Louis Dreyfus said on Monday. Brazil’s start of the crop is “very concerning”, considering both agricultural yields and sugar content on cane, the commodities trader said in a presentation on the first day of New York Sugar Week. India’s production for the season that starts in October is projected to grow to 30.5 million tons from 26 million tons in the previous crop, while Brazil’s center-south crop is estimated at 39.3 million tons, down from 40.2 million tons, according to the presentation. Louis Dreyfus’ (AKIRAU.UL) projection for the new Brazil crop is one of the smallest so far. Brazil’s government agency Conab sees center-south sugar crop at 41.8 million tons, while broker Hedgepoint Global Markets projected it at 43.3 million tons. Dreyfus was the sole ...