Williams Servicos Maritimos says the amount of sugar awaiting loading at ports in top producer Brazil fell 8.9% over the past week, with vessels still bound for Algeria and India, according to Bloomberg.
As many as 1.4 million metric tonnes of sugar was waiting to be loaded onto ships at the ports of Vitoria, Paranagua and Santos, the country's biggest, figures e-mailed Wednesday from the Recife, Brazil-based shipping agency showed. That compares with 1.54 million tonnes a week earlier.
About 15% of all the sugar awaiting loading would head to Algeria and India, the world's second-biggest producer and largest consumer. Last week, about 25% of all the sugar to be loaded onto ships was heading to the two nations. While Algeria needs to import raw sugar for refining as it doesn't produce the sweetener, Indian processors are importing to take advantage of lower world market prices.
Vessels scheduled to go to India are set to take 123,500 tonnes of raw sugar, according to Williams Brasil. Ships bound to Algeria would carry 93,550 tonnes, the data showed. Algeria is this year's fourth-biggest buyer of raw sugar from Brazil after the U.A.E., Malaysia and the Black Sea region, broker and consultancy SA Commodities in Santos said Wednesday in a report.
Algeria's Cevital plans to increase purchases of raw sugar for its refinery to 1.5 million tonnes this year from 1.4 million tonnes a year earlier as it expands sales of the refined variety in Africa, Alaoa Cheguettine, a trader at the company's sugar division, said on Feb. 3. Indian refiners are importing the raw sweetener to process and re-export, according to the New Delhi- based Indian Sugar Mills Association. Some of the sugar also has been imported for domestic consumption even though the country will have a surplus this season, according to ISMA.
About 32% of all the crystal sugar waiting loading was bound for Ghana, the data showed. Vessels scheduled to sail to the West African nation would take 59,000 tonnes of the crystal variety, from a total of 183,000 tonnes.
