Indian sugar mills had hoped to start crushing cane as soon as possible so they could start exporting before rival Thailand could provide export supplies, but heavy rains thwarted plans, senior industry officials and dealers said.

Delays in cane crushing in the world's largest sugar producer and second-largest exporter could push back shipments of raw sugar from India and could raise global prices.

The start of this year's crush could be delayed by two cycles because of heavy rains in most cane-growing areas, said Prakash Naik Naware, managing director of India's National Cooperative Sugar Mills Federation.

So far, India has received 88 percent more rainfall than normal in October. The western state of Maharashtra and neighboring Karnataka, the country's largest and third-largest sugar-producing regions, both received heavy rains, and the second-largest sugar-producing state of Uttar Pradesh received a heavy downpour last week. These three states account for more than three-quarters of the country's sugar production.

Sugar mills in Maharashtra plan to start crushing in mid-October to produce crude sugar for export, said a dealer for a global trading company in Mumbai. He said sugar mills have already signed export contracts for November and December shipments, so there will be pressure to produce crude sugar as early as possible after crushing begins.

Traders have so far signed export contracts for about 1 million tons of crude sugar, mainly for shipments in November and December, although the government is not yet allowing exports, traders said.

The sugar crushing season in Thailand, the world's third-largest sugar exporter, usually starts in late November or early December.

Export contracts for white sugar can be fulfilled with the previous year's production, but sugar mills do not have crude sugar in stock, New Delhi dealers said.

Indian sugar mills traditionally produce white sugar for local consumption and a small amount of raw sugar for export.

Farmers in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, have expressed dissatisfaction with the crop damage caused by excessive rainfall in the region. One farmer asked the government to provide them with assistance. Meanwhile, people living in low-lying areas are facing problems due to rains in parts of the state: because of flood-like conditions caused by rising water levels in the Rapti River in Gorakhpur.