Sugar prices fell before a decision by India, the world’s largest consumer of the sweetener, on changing import rules. India’s cabinet committee on economic affairs may today consider allowing duty-free imports of raw sugar for sale in the country after processing, Press Trust of India said yesterday, citing a government official it didn’t identify. India has a 60 percent tax on imports for local refining and sales. Importers can avoid the tax by selling the processed sugar overseas. “If it lowers or abolishes the import duty, it’s bullish, and if it does nothing, it’s bearish,” said Jonathan Kingsman, the head of Kingsman SA, a research company and brokerage in Lausanne, Switzerland. “Uncertainty” triggered the slide in prices, he said. Raw-sugar futures for March delivery fell 0.21 cent, or 1.6 percent, to 12.7 cents a pound at 10:05 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price gained 16 percent in the five weeks ended Jan. 23 on the drop in India’s sugar production and forecasts for higher imports.

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