India May Extend Duty-Free Imports of Raw Sugar

India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, may extend duty-free imports of raw sugar by eight months to March, bolstering local supplies and global prices, an industry official said. The cabinet may approve a proposal from the food ministry in the next 15 to 20 days, said the official, who asked to remain unidentified as the information is confidential. The government may also include private traders in its plan to allow state-run companies to import as much as 1 million tons of white sugar by the end of this year, the official said. Increased purchases by India may sustain a rally that’s made raw sugar the second-best performing commodity in the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index in the past year. Raw sugar has advanced 34 percent this year on forecasts of a global deficit, driven mainly by the drop in India’s production.