Sugar Prices Fall on the Outlook for Abundant Supplies

Price Trends - March NY world sugar 11 closed down -0.19 (-1.20%) and December London ICE white sugar 5 closed down -10.70 (-2.37%) [1] - Sugar prices settled lower but remained above the lows reached the previous day, with NY sugar falling to a 3-week low and London sugar dropping to a 4.25-year nearest-futures low [2] Supply Outlook - The outlook for robust global sugar supplies is weighing on prices, with BMI Group projecting a global 2025/26 sugar surplus of 10.5 million metric tons (MMT) and Covrig Analytics projecting a surplus of 4.1 MMT for 2025/25 [2] - Brazil's sugar output in the first half of September rose by +15.7% year-on-year to 3.622 million tons, contributing to the pressure on sugar prices [3] - Cumulative 2025-26 Center-South sugar output through mid-September fell -0.1% year-on-year to 30.388 MMT [3] Regional Production Factors - India's Meteorological Department reported cumulative monsoon rainfall of 937.2 mm as of September 30, which is 8% above normal, indicating a potential bumper sugar crop [4] - India's National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories projected a +19% year-on-year increase in sugar production for 2025/26 to 34.9 MMT, following a -17.5% decline in 2024/25 to a 5-year low of 26.2 MMT [4] Export Dynamics - India may divert 4 MMT of sugar to make ethanol in 2025/26, which may not sufficiently ease the country's sugar surplus and could lead to exports of up to 4 MMT, exceeding earlier expectations of 2 MMT [5]