European Union officials met with representatives from the sugar industry to discuss a possible supply crunch as imports may fall short of the bloc's forecast, according to two people who attended the meeting.
Sugar imports from preferential nations have lagged last season's pace and may end up below the EU's current forecast, the European Commission told industry representatives at the meeting last week, said the people, who asked not to be identified. The bloc may ship in 150,000 metric tons less than it had expected, they said.
Sugar users at the talks urged the commission, the EU's regulatory arm, to take exceptional steps to boost supplies in the region according to the the people. Beet producers opposed those measures, the people said.
The commission didn't respond for comment.
The EU needs to take action to avoid sugar shortages for food and beverage makers, the Committee of European Sugar Users, a group representing more than 15,000 companies, said last month. Stockpiles are set to drop below levels in 2009-10 and 2010-11, when users faced a "severe supply crisis," the lobby group said Feb. 22.
No decisions were made on whether the EU will introduce exceptional measures, the people said. The commission intends to decide this month on whether to propose such actions that would boost supplies, one person said.
EU sugar prices climbed to an average of $469 a ton in December, the highest in a year, according to data from the commission. That's still 42 percent below a peak of in January 2013. Spot market prices were at $605 last month, according to researcher F.O. Licht GmbH.
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