El Niño looks set to hit major sugar producers in countries such as Brazil, India and Thailand hard. The phenomenon is caused by warmer surface waters in the Pacific Ocean and increases the risk of drought and fires, including in Southeast Asia, as well as heavy rains and floods in South America.
“El Niño is definitely here. Sugar production has had significant declines everywhere,” Eder Vieito, head of research at Green Pool Commodity Specialists, told Bloomberg.
Industry analysts foresee that a large part of the global sugar market's buffer will be lost as a result of extreme weather.
