India will allow an additional export of up to 1.2 million tonnes of sugar in the marketing year ended September 30 due to avoid any price fall due to the production glut after surplus production. The new limit is over the 10 million cap in place.
Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey in New Delhi said the government will further increase the sugar export cap by 1.2 million tonnes.
The government in May restricted the export of the sweetener at 10 million tonnes during the marketing year in order to maintain domestic availability and price stability. The industry has been demanding an increase on export cap since then.
Sugar mills have already exhausted the 10 million export limit, an all-time high, in the current year and the shipments are further likely to increase to 11.2 million tonnes, the food ministry stated earlier this week.
In the year 2020-21, sugar exports stood at 7 million tonnes, up from 5.96 million tonnes during the previous year.
Industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) estimates that India’s sugar production could moderate to 35.5 million tonnes in 2022-23 marketing year due to diversion of the crop towards the production of ethanol manufacturing. Sugar production is estimated at 36 million tonnes in the current marketing year ending September.
Before diverting the crop for ethanol production, sugar output is estimated to be north of 39.9 million tonnes in 2022-23 against 39.4 million tonnes in the current 2021-22 marketing year.
