It is reported in FAO Food Outlook Report.

International sugar markets are seen heading for a modest tightening in the 2019/20 marketing season, as production is forecast to fall below the previous season’s record level while world consumption is expected to expand. As a result, sugar inventories are predicted to decline in 2019/20.

India, Thailand and Pakistan account for much of the anticipated year-onyear contraction in global sugar production. Unfavourable weather conditions during sugar cane tillering and elongation stages are largely behind the reduced output.

Global sugar consumption is set to expand by 1,4 percent in 2019/20, a modest increase compared with the growth registered in the previous season, but still below its long-term (10-year) trend, reflecting the growing consumer concerns about excess sugar consumption. Growth in sugar consumption is expected to be particularly marked in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean, driven by rising per capita incomes and lower sugar prices.

World sugar trade is expected to expand in 2019/20, underpinned by a stronger import demand from the traditional sugar importing countries and ample availability in major exporting countries. The introduction of export incentives by some of the major exporting countries is also anticipated to boost global trade in sugar. Exports by Brazil and India are set to rise, prompted by abundant sugar stocks, but to fall in Thailand, the second largest sugar exporter, due to an 11 percent decrease in production.