REPORTS

Bloomberg - India may permit additional sugar exports to reduce domestic surplus stockpiles and facilitate timely payment to farmers, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said in New Delhi on Thursday. The government is also considering raising the minimum sale price of sugar, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event organized by the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association. India’s food ministry is in favor of raising ethanol procurement rates, and allocating more ethanol made from cane juice for blending with gasoline, he said. Domestic mills have signed contracts to export as much as 150,000 tons of sugar since mid-November, with some shipments headed to African countries and Sri Lanka, Deepak Ballani, director general of ISMA, said at the same event.