Article concerning the tight supply situation for world sugar seen

'

.

,

f l .'

'

- r- ·-;

Tig.,rt

Su

.

pply

Sitriatiori

For.

World

Siig·ar

Seeri

W ASHINGTO:-J", Dec. 3

(UPIJ - Administration farm -,-expe1;ts· ha\"e produced •·pro. jections" indicat;ng world

sug-ar supplies will remain in

tight balance with demand through at least 1980.

The -accuracy of that

fore-cast, which is viewed with

skepticism by some sugar

in-dustry groups, could play a

major role in determining

whether the Agriculture

De-partment is able to de\·elop

much support for its

con-troversial plan to abolish fed-eral sugar controls.

Department sources here . said a study by agency

tech-nicians indicates that under "ick>al" cooditions, world

sug-ar production by the 1979-80

season would increase 25 to 30

per ceot over the 1972-73 total

of 83.1 millioo tons. At the

same time, the study indi; cates, world sugar

consump-tion is estimated to increa...~

by the s1:1.me 25 to 30 per cent .

trom the 1972-i3 le\·el of 84.5

I

million tons. ~

! Experts said these esti- !

mates indicate that "while l

· sufficient sugar will be forth-

j

coming (to meet world needs),

j

i

-

·significant buildup in stocks

!

may not occur except under

I

I

optimum conditions."

j

Held C<m;;en-ative

I

·

One agriculture official

que-l · r i e d about the estimates

l

I

'

termed them cooservati\·e and

'

~J~,~~iic;~

0

o1e~~~~d

l~~~1

!~

I

· hampered by shortages of fuel

or capital for expensive new processing plants.

· 1' An industry official who

· asked not to be identified,

! however, .said it was "hard: to believe that (current high

prices) will not bring out

sub-stantially increased produc-!

,, I

~10n. i

"I just can't find any of our

. J people who think as the

de-I

·partment does that supplies ,

· will remain tig!1t for a iong

"1l' time," the otiicial said.

Currently, SU!";ar prices are.

high because production has

been run.ning below demand

,

to,

me<al

y,m

aad

bu,ec1

·

r

_

·

~-

-~

~~~

-s

~

.

;._

~

-

~

-

'-:'.~

~

'

have been bidding up

avail-able stocks.

Agriculture Department

o!-!icial.s, believing the era o!

sugar surpluses may be pa.st, are seeking White Hou~

sup-port for a proposal under

which

a

40-year-old sugar

con-trol program would be

re-pealed after 1974.

Under a department plan,

Coogress would be asked to

al-low the old sugar act to expire

next year, throwing the U.S.

market open to Yirrually all

foreign and domestic

produc-ers on a free competitive

basis. ·

The plan, if accepted by the

White House and adopted by

Congress. would- protect the

income

ot

d-0mestic growers

by .setting "target" prices and

.providing payments to farm-'

ers if open-market prices sag

below the target level

·--