India may be the only country able to fill a looming global supply gap for sugar as the Brazilian crop ends, making the world’s sugar market grateful for the Asian country that was once viewed as a threat to the market’s stability.
“Without India filling this gap, from November to March or April, the global sugar market would have a serious problem,” said Paulo Roberto de Souza, the Chief Executive of Alvean Sugar SL, the world’s largest sugar trader. India’s sugar policies, which include large subsidies, have been questioned for years at the World Trade Organization by competitors including Brazil and Australia.