Sugar prices jumped to the highest in two months as India, facing a domestic shortfall of the sweetener, considered ways to relax rules on imports. India, the world’s second-biggest sugar exporter, may purchase as much as 2 million metric tons this year, Adani Enterprises Ltd., the country’s biggest private trader of farm goods, said this week. The federal Cabinet may examine cutting or eliminating the import tax of 60 percent, among other options, a government official said. “It’s India today,” said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “Production is down. They need sugar, and they’re usually an exporter of sugar.” Raw-sugar futures for March delivery rose 0.32 cent, or 2.6 percent, to 12.7 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the price reached 12.84 cents, the highest for a most- active contract since Nov. 5. The commodity gained 3.6 percent this week. India’s output has dropped as farmers shifted acreage to other crops. The country exported 5 million tons of sugar in 2008, Czarnikow Group Ltd. said this week. Sugar has climbed 7.5 percent this month. Brazil is the world’s biggest producer and exporter.

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