sugar

CANBERRA (Dow Jones)--Supply and demand in the global raw sugar market will be finely balanced through 2010 and any shock to production, particularly in major producers Brazil or India, will push prices higher, Ian Glasson, chief executive of CSR Ltd.'s (CSR.AU) sugar unit Sucrogen, said Wednesday.

For now, the global market looks like delivering a "slight surplus" in 2010 but this will come after a period of a sharp rundown in global stocks, he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

"The market is hand to mouth at the moment," and any major news either way will spook the market, he said.

"Long run, clearly the price isn't sustainable a these levels and it will drop down close to Brazil's cost of production, but it is on a knife edge," Glasson said.


-By Ray Brindal, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-6208-0902; [email protected]