CHINA has been rejecting applications for refined sugar imports to protect its mills from a flood of cheap overseas supplies at a time when domestic cane prices remain uncompetitively high, industry sources said Tuesday.

    Import curbs together with dwindling output at one of the world’s top two sugar buyers would buoy local sweetener prices that have already risen 18 percent this year, but drag on the global benchmark that hit a 6-year low in March.

    China may approve only around 10,000 tons of out-of-quota white sugar imports in April, said a trader, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media, versus about 100,000 tons in February.

    “Whites are being restricted to a few parties. They’re making sure only industries that actually need sugar get licenses,” the trader said. An analyst at hedge fund Shanghai Chaos Investment, Tao Qiujun, said the government has been strict with import approvals since March.

    China’s ministry of commerce did not immediately return calls seeking comment.(SD-Agencies)