The Philippines suffered a domestic shortage due to bad weather and was waiting for the new domestic crop to be milled.

A government official in Manila last week said the National Food Authority has been authorised to import 50,000 tonnes of refined sugar for immediate shipment.

Because the sugar is needed by November 15, Korea was the most likely source since Thai white sugar was scarce and Brazilian would take too long to arrive, a trader said.

Next year should see more sugar imports from the West arriving in Asia, traders said.

"We see a lot of Western Hemisphere sugar coming into the Far East in the first quarter of next year, mainly from Guatemala and Brazil," a trader said.

Low freight rates were encouraging the Latin American imports, which could reduce demand for Thai sugar from January through March, the tradersaid.

Another trader said an overall softening of freight rates has dropped charges to less than $40 a tonne for Latin American sugar shipped to Asia. "It is becoming a regular thing," he said.

In addition, a trader said Indonesia could increase its purchases of European Union sugar next year in place of sugar from Thailand but he did not estimate the amounts.

Indonesia's sugar consumption in 1999 will hinge on whether its economy recovers, a trader said.

The outlook for Thai premiums was to hold steady at current low levels for the short term, in a range of 30 to 60 points (100 points = 1 US cent) per lb over Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange prices, traders said.

"The nearby months will be relatively lower," a trader said.

The January/March and March/May raw premiums were 40 to 55 points and the May/July was 55 points bid.

The Thai white premium for March/May over London prices was $3 to $7 per tonne.

In China the price of white sugar ex-factory in Guangxi was steady at 3,050 to 3,100 yuan($361-373) per tonne.