“For global sugar markets, it’s beginning to look a lot like one of the worst shortages in history.
Consecutive years of deficits, weather damage in key crops and shipping bottlenecks are reminding the world’s top sugar trading company of 2010 and 2011, when prices of the sweetener hit a three-decade high…
India isn’t expected to ship any sugar for the season that just started, a shift from two seasons ago when exports were as much as 11 million tons. That means markets are depending on Brazil, Angelo said, making prices extremely sensitive to issues like untimely rains that threaten to disrupt harvests or delay ship loadings.
Sugar is already piling in Brazilian ports when the country’s infrastructure is stretched to the maximum capacity. Bumper soy and corn crops are making the sweetener compete for space in ports and railroads, while recent heavy rains increased the amount of time ships have to wait to load.”