Will next year’s weather support sugar expectations?
One of the reasons that the high expectations for the 2006/07 crop are being verified has been the favorable July weather pattern experienced both in Brazil and India. Throughout the primary cane regions in both countries, July 2007 temperatures were cooler and rainfall totals were much wetter than normal, which has been beneficial for production. Taking an early look at the potential for the 2007/08 crop, the Weather Trends International long range outlook is still pointing towards good growing conditions for July 2008; however, we expect Jul08 temperatures to be warmer and rainfall totals to be lower than what we saw in the Jul07 observations. While it is early, this is something to keep in mind as the trade continues to talk about extending the global sugar surplus for the 2007/08 crop year.
