Al Khaleej Sells About 150,000 Tons of Sugar Into World Market
February 23, 2012, 7:33 AM ESTBy Isis Almeida
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Al Khaleej Sugar Co., the world’s largest sugar refinery, has sold about 150,000 metric tons of raw sugar from Brazil back to the world market this year as it expands purchases from India, Fazalur Rahman, general manager of finance, said.
The Dubai-based refinery has bought almost 100,000 tons of sugar from India this year and will buy more, Rahman said in an interview at a conference in London today.
Al Khaleej, which buys raw sugar to process into white, or refined, sweetener, is selling output at $60 to $80 a ton over the price on NYSE Liffe, he said. The premium is falling because of competition from India and Thailand, he said. The May futures contract for white sugar on NYSE Liffe was up 0.4 percent at $646 a ton at 4:49 p.m. in London.
The refinery will close in about two weeks as the company is expanding storage capacity, Rahman said. It will be closed for three to four weeks, he said.
--Editors: Claudia Carpenter, John Deane
To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
