India's sugar body upbeat on output, export curbs loom.

NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (Reuters): India's sugar industry Wednesday gave an upbeat assessment of next year's production despite a drought as it tried to avoid export curbs which government sources said New Delhi is contemplating as part of steps to bolster domestic supplies.

India, the world's top sugar consumer and the biggest producer behind Brazil, has also started discussing dropping a 10 per cent import duty to calm local prices although traders and analysts do not see India tiptoeing to imports for now.

Government sources on Tuesday said India was considering export curbs as it wanted to keep a lid on domestic prices due to drought. India's benchmark sugar futures have surged more than 22 per cent since January.

As India faces a cycle of boom and shortage of sugar almost every three years, mills juggle between exports and imports.

After exporting 2.6 million tonnes of sugar in the 2010/11 season, overseas sales are expected to total 3.5-4.0 million tonnes in the current season to September.

Source : thefinancialexpress-bd.com