Lucknow
Indonesia and Bangladesh have emerged as the top export destinations for Indian sugar in the current season.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), Indonesia and Bangladesh account for almost 44 per cent of the total sugar shipments. Last year, 48 per cent of the Indian sugar exports went to Indonesia and Afghanistan.
Citing market reports and port information, ISMA said around 8 million tonnes (MT) of sugar export has been contracted so far, of which nearly 5.7 MT physically shipped during Oct 2021–Mar 2022 period vis-à-vis about 3.2 MT in the same period last season.
Meanwhile, domestic sugar mills have produced almost 33 MT of sugar till Apr 15. This is 3.8 MT higher than produced in the same period last year.
In Maharashtra, sugar production stood at 12.65 MT compared to 10.4 MT last year. In Uttar Pradesh, 120 mills have produced almost 9.5 MT of sugar, while 52 units have stopped their crushing operations.
The mills of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha have also contributed to the national sugar tally.
ISMA, in its last committee meeting, had revised its sugar production estimate to 35 MT. In the case of Maharashtra, the estimates were revised to 13.4 MT while in the case of Karnataka to 6.2 M. It also revised its export estimates to over 9 MT for the season.
Considering the above and domestic consumption of 27.2 MT, there will be a closing balance of 6.8 MT at the end of the sugar season on 30 September 2022.