MEXICO CITY – Mexico exported 1.32 million tons of sugar to the United States during the 2010-2011 harvest, a 206 percent increase in sales compared to the previous harvest, the Agriculture Secretariat said.

Exports set a record in the 2010-2011 harvest, the secretariat said, citing National Sustainable Sugar Development Commission figures.

Mexico’s sugar harvest takes place from October to June.

Sugar exports to the United States totaled 432,000 tons in the 2009-2010 harvest, while they came in at 1.16 million tons in the 2008-2009 harvest, the secretariat said.

The sugar industry produced 5.18 million tons of the commodity in the period ending in June, up 7.4 percent from the 4.82 million tons harvested in the 2009-2010 period.

A total of 673,026 hectares (1.66 million acres) were planted in the 2010-2011 harvest, with Veracruz, San Luis Potosi, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Nayarit, Tamaulipas and Morelos states accounting for the majority of production.

Mexico has become the main sugar supplier to the United States and is the world’s sixth-largest exporter of the commodity, the secretariat said.

The Economy Secretariat approved the importation of about 150,000 tons of sugar from Nicaragua starting this month to boost reserves and “insure the national supply,” the secretariat said.

Mexico had 1.52 million tons of sugar on hand as of the end of July, the secretariat said. EFE