Precipitation in the east and northeast, major rice-growing regions, was 18% below normal during the monsoon, the weather office said. Some parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra states, key sugar producers, were among the driest areas this year, it said. Even as Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra is positive on prospects for the sugar cane crop, 12 respondents in a Bloomberg survey of 14 analysts, traders and millers, said that India may not export any sugar in the new season starting on Oct. 1 because of lower production. Sucden’s General Director Jeremy Austin said last week that the nation is expected to produce 28.6 million tons of sugar in 2023-24, much less than the Indian Sugar Mills Association’s prediction of 31.68 million tons. The country’s estimated production in 2022-23 was 32.8 million tons, according to ISMA.