The European Commission issued 7,473 mt of sugar import licenses in the week ended July 7, down 85% from a 12-week high 49,678 mt awarded a week earlier and down 85.6% from 51,786 mt in the year-ago week, EC data showed Friday.
The latest weekly total was the third-lowest weekly total in 2017, only higher than the 5,272 mt issued in the week ended June 16 and 5,872 mt in the week ended January 13.
The cumulative total of EPA-EBA licenses awarded in the 2016-17 season (October-September) now stands at 1.04 million mt, down 21.1% from 1.32 million in the same period in 2015-16.
Imports under EPA-EBA agreements allow for sugar to be imported duty-free and quota-free from less developed countries.
For the fourth week in the last five weeks, the majority of the week's licenses -- 6,744 mt -- went to Mauritius, which now has a cumulative total of 297,680 mt, the most issued to any country.
