Sugar futures fell from the highest price since 2006 on speculation that a 27 percent rally in the past month will discourage importers and food makers from making new purchases. India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, is unlikely to buy raw sugar from overseas at current prices, according to Samir Somaiya, the president of the Indian Sugar Mills Association. The rally had been fueled by forecasts that global production would fall short of demand this year and next, mostly because of a plunge in the Indian cane harvest. “I firmly believe we have gotten away from where the consumer wants to buy,” said Anthony Compagnino, a partner at East Coast Options Services Inc. in New York. Raw-sugar futures for July delivery fell 0.12 cent, or 0.8 percent, to 15.37 cents a pound at 10:357 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The price reached 15.6 cents yesterday, the highest for a most-active contract since July 2006. Sugar would need to drop to 13 cents or below to spur imports by India, Somaiya said during an interview while attending an industry conference in New York. Before today, most-active futures rose 31 percent this year, the third-biggest gainer on the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities, behind gasoline and copper. The global production deficit will reach 7.8 million metric tons in the year through Sept. 30, and early indications point to a shortfall of 4.9 million in the following year, the International Sugar Organization said this week.

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