Mexico Ministry Sets New Sugar Import Quota of 150,000 Tons

(Bloomberg) – Mexico, the world’s sixth-largest sugar producer, set an import quota for the sweetener of 150,000 metric tons because domestic production may not meet demand.

The quota will expire Jan. 31, 2012, the Economy Ministry said today in the federal gazette. It includes 15,000 tons from Nicaragua.

The Economy Ministry approved the extra quota for the start of the 2011-2012 crop season as record exports to the U.S. arranged the prior year threatened domestic inventories. The Mexican government had published another quota for 150,000 tons in July, and 93,200 tons had been imported so far.

Mexico’s sugar chamber doesn’t expect more imports this year as the pace of exports has slowed, Juan Cortina, trade group president said in a Sept. 21 interview. The nation’s Sugar and Alcohol Chamber of Commerce opposes the new quota.

Mexico, a net exporter of sugar, regulates the industry of the sweetener by setting import quotas.

In August, there was surplus of sugar in Mexico of 1.2 million tons, according to a preliminary report by Conadesuca, a committee that recommends sugar-import policies for Mexico.

Raw-sugar futures for March delivery fell 0.5 percent to 26.83 cents a pound at 11:49 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, heading for a second straight loss. The sweetener jumped 11 percent last week after floods delayed the harvest in Thailand, the world’s second-largest exporter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net