Dubai’s Al Khaleej Sugar aims to lift output at its sugar refinery this year, with competition from India curtailed by bad weather in the South Asian country, its MD said on Tuesday.

Jamal Al Ghurair said on the sidelines of the annual Dubai sugar conference that its refinery at Jebel Ali in Dubai was operating at 40% capacity last year with output of about 6,00,000 metric tons, but was aiming if possible to produce up to 1.5 million tons this year. The refinery’s normal capacity is 1.5 million tons although it can produce more refined sugar if demand is strong. In 2017 it produced a record 1.87 million tons.

Mr. Al Ghurair said India had stopped exporting because of bad weather and this had created more demand, at least temporarily.

The International Sugar Organization last month forecast that Indian sugar output would fall to 31.7 million tons in 2023/24.