Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 11:36 AM 4 min read
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October NY world sugar #11 (SBV25) on Wednesday closed down -0.04 (-0.25%), and October London ICE white sugar #5 (SWV25) closed down -0.80 (-0.17%).
Sugar prices extended this week’s slide on Wednesday, with NY sugar posting a 2.5-week low and London sugar posting a 2-week low. Sugar prices were under pressure on Wednesday due to speculation that India may boost its sugar exports after a Bloomberg report stated that the country may permit local sugar mills to export sugar in the next season, which starts in October, as abundant monsoon rains may produce a bumper sugar crop. India’s Meteorological Department reported Monday that cumulative monsoon rain in India is 6% above normal as of July 21.
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The outlook for higher sugar production in Brazil is also weighing on sugar prices. Datagro said Monday that dry weather in Brazil has encouraged the country’s sugar mills to increase their cane crushing, diverting more of the cane crush toward more profitable sugar production rather than ethanol. According to Covrig, Brazil’s sugar mills are expected to crush 54% of the available cane in the first half of this month, likely adding 3.2 MMT of sugar into the market.
The outlook for higher sugar production in India, the world’s second-largest producer, is bearish for prices. On June 2, India’s National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories projected that India’s 2025/26 sugar production would climb +19% y/y to 35 MMT, citing larger planted cane acreage. That would follow a -17.5% y/y decline in India’s sugar production in 2024/25 to a 5-year low of 26.2 MMT, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). Also, the ISMA reported on July 7 that India’s sugar production during Oct 1-May 15 fell -17% y/y to 25.74 MMT.
Sugar prices have retreated over the past three months, with NY sugar falling to a 4.25-year low earlier this month and London sugar sliding to a nearly 4-year low, driven by expectations of a sugar surplus in the 2025/26 season. On June 30, commodities trader Czarnikow projected a 7.5 MMT global sugar surplus for the 2025/26 season, the largest surplus in 8 years. On May 22, the USDA, in its biannual report, projected that global 2025/26 sugar production would increase by +4.7% y/y to a record 189.318 MMT, with global sugar ending stocks at 41.188 MMT, up 7.5% y/y.
