A report cutting 2.5m tonnes from global production forecasts helped sugar record fresh three-year peaks on Friday, despite a lack of news from India on import levy concessions.

FO Licht sliced to 154.9m tonnes its estimate for global sugar output in the 2008-09 marketing year, which ends in September.

The German analysis group said the reduction reflected reduced hopes for output in India, Mexico, Thailand and Pakistan, which would more than offset an improved outlook in Europe.

While FO Licht also cut its estimate for sugar consumption, noting "the stranglehold of the deepest global economic crisis since the Great Depression", the reduction was of only 1.4m tonnes.

The revision left consumption at 159.5m tonnes, 4.6m tonnes higher than production, with FO Licht adding that the global stocks-to-use ratio would tighten to 44.4% in 2008-09 from 48.8% the year before.

Import levy

The data helped settle traders' nerves after an Indian Cabinet meeting ended on Thursday without an announcement, which had been expected, extending beyond the end of July a period when sugar can be imported tax free.

India, the world's biggest sugar consumer, looks on course for a second year of net imports of the commodity after an erratic start to the monsoon rains necessary for a successful crop.

New York raw sugar for October climbed to 18.48 cents a pound, the highest for a near-term since March 2006, before losing some ground to stand at 18.43 cents a pound at 16:30 GMT, up 0.17 cents on the day.

London white sugar for October touched $480.4 a tonne, the highest since July 2006.