Sep 1 2009 8:51AM
NEW DELHI, Sept 1 (Reuters) - India, the world's top sugar consumer, has bought up to 60,000 tonnes of Thai white sugar, with total purchases of up to 100,000 tonnes expected by October, traders said on Tuesday.
Raw sugar futures surged to their highest in nearly 30 years in New York on Monday, to stand well above a key resistance at 24 cents a lb, boosted by strong demand from India, which is reeling from its worst monsoon season in 40 years.
With India being forced to import large quantities of the sweetener ahead of its annual festival season, spot sugar prices surged 31.5 percent in August.
Thai firms are selling the Thai white sugar at discounts of $5 to $10 per tonne under London's October contract with freight rates ranging from $20 to $30 per tonne for shipment from Thailand to India, traders meeting in the Indian capital said. "Our Thai sugar is going to be cheap to India," one trader with a Thai firm told Reuters. "If you ask millers they will tell you they have already sold out, but the sugar is in traders' hands and stored in warehouses."
He added: "India has bought 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of Thai white sugar. By October, 100,000 tonnes are possible."
The global financial crisis had hit demand in the first and second quarters of this year, he said, compelling traders to leave sugar in storage in warehouses.
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