Pune: The International Sugar Organisation has said that it is encouraging importing countries to buy sugar from India in order to help improve global prices of the sweetener. A huge stock of sugar held by India is a cause of concern for the world sugar market.

“We are talking to and encouraging countries like Iran, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and others to import sugar from India because it is available here in large quantities,” Jose Orive, executive director, International Sugar Organisation (ISO), said on the sidelines of the International Sugar Conference at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune.

India has produced surplus sugar since 2010-11, barring 2015-16 and 2016-17. The ongoing sugar year is, however, expected to be a deficit year in terms of sugar production in the country. Sugar production till January 31 was trailing that of the previous year by 4.45 million tonnes, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said in a statement on Monday.

However, India has a large carry forward stock from the surplus production of the previous year.

“It is not normal for a country to carry stocks of eight to 10 million tonnes. The market needs to move strongly into deficit if prices are to recover significantly to help the world sugar prices to improve and stabilise,” said Orive.

Growing stockpiles and exports from India have been keeping global sugar prices supressed.