India's bumper sugar production has caused ripples in the global market with other producers wondering whether the Indian commodity will reach their export markets in the world.
Australian and Thai exporters however are not threatened by the Indian crop. India consumes most of its sugar at home.
Experts feel that lot of buyers would not prefer India to buy their commodity as they wouldn't know what they were going to get.
But India's sugar industry dismisses such doubts, saying that its raw sugar is destined for East Asia as well as nearer markets, and that it is capable of producing the best sugar in the world.
India recently sold 200,000 tonnes of raws to Dubai - its first such sale - and this week doubled the amount that can be kept in reserves to 5 million tonnes to help mills.
Regional traders believe India will have a further million tonnes of sugar to export, even though it recently said it would not be exporting at present prices.
But East Asian sugar producers are not quaking in their shoes at the prospect of a flood of cheap Indian supplies, which could begin to flow after India's new sugar season starts in October.
East
If India's major exports of raw sugar take place in the first quarter of next year, as regional traders believe, they would be competing head-to-head in East Asia with Thailand, which starts crushing in November and starts exporting in January.
Indonesia has a colour limit on raw sugar imports, and Indian raws are often part-processed, changing the sugar's colour. Quality would be further reduced if exports were cut from bags.
Indian producers, however, say the importing world simply does not yet know how good Indian sugar is.
Australian analysts believe that India's exports are likely to be confined to nearby markets and the Middle East, especially Bangladesh, Pakistan and Dubai.
Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Nigeria, Algeria and China were export targets for India. India enjoys a freight advantage over the world's largest sugar producer, Brazil. At $23-$25 a tonne for freight to Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East, Indian freight costs are about half of Brazil's.
