By M. Shankar Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- White sugar may advance in London on speculation that higher prices won’t curb demand amid a forecast shortfall in supply. The global sugar deficit this year will probably total 8 million metric tons, more than previously estimated, because of lower production in Asia and Mexico, according to German research company F.O. Licht. “The supply is tighter than previously expected,” Christoph Berg, the company’s managing director, said in a presentation to a conference in Manila today. White sugar for March delivery gained as much as $3.80, or 0.5 percent, to $737.40 a ton on London’s Liffe exchange and was trading at $736 at 10:42 a.m. local time. The contract last month climbed to $767, the highest level in at least two decades. Raw sugar for March delivery climbed 1.3 percent to 29.66 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. India, the world’s largest consumer, will have to import at least 7 million tons this season, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates. The Philippines will import 60,000 tons by the end of April as it seeks overseas supplies for the first time in eight years after drought cut domestic crops. Countries including Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia also plan to make purchases. Excess rains in Brazil and a weak monsoon in India hurt sugar-cane output from the world’s two biggest growers. Global demand for sugar will outpace supply by 13.5 million tons in the 2009-10 season, according to Czarnikow Group Ltd. Among other agricultural commodities traded on Liffe, cocoa for March delivery fell 29 pounds, or 1.3 percent, to 2,196 pounds ($3,496) a ton. Robusta coffee for March delivery was unchanged at $1,355 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: M. Shankar in London at mshankar@bloomberg.net.

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