The flood-stricken nation of Pakistan is struggling to feed and shelter refugees from the terrible floods which have washed away homes, fields and roads across the provinces of Punjabh and Sindh. The waters have ruined the year's harvest of staple crops like wheat and sugar, which is raising the risk of famine in the nation's desperately poor rural areas.
Pakistan has had to turn to international markets to meet its shortfall – as much as 1.2 million metric tons out of an annual consumption of 4 million metric tons, reports Bloomberg.
The country usually has "a natural deficit as it is," James Kirkup, the head of sugar broking at ABN Amro Markets in London, told the news service. "There's losses due to the floods."
The price of sugar futures jumped on Thursday after declining earlier in the day. Raw number 11 sugar futures contracts for October delivery rose 2.457 percent to 24.42 cents per pound.
In Britain, Liffe sugar were up by 2.34 percent to $607.10 per ton after a choppy start. So far this year, sugar is down about 15 percent from its high in late 2009.
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