China will auction 250,000 tonnes of sugar from state reserves on May 31, with the starting price set at 4,000 yuan (about 615 U.S. dollars) per tonne, the country's Ministry of Commerce announced Friday.
It will be the government's fifth auction of reserve sugar produced during the 2010-2011 crushing season, aiming to ensure market supply and stabilize prices.
In the previous four auctions, China sold 760,000 tonnes of reserve sugar.
