JAKARTA: Refineries in Indonesia, the world’s biggest sugar importer, are set to boost overseas purchases of the raw variety next year to a record.
Processors will probably buy 3.3 million tons of raw sugar from abroad, up from 2.6 million tons this year, according to Bernardi Dharmawan, chairman of the Indonesia Sugar Refiners Association. Still, that doesn’t signal much of a change in refined production, which will stay at around 3 million tons, he said. That’s because output this year was supported by raw sugar stockpiles carried over from last year.