Indian sugar output increased by 13% — ISMA
Sugar mills in the country have produced 32.99 million tonnes of sugar till April 15 this year, which is 3.8 million tonne (MT) higher than 29.18 MT produced by the same time last year, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). As compared to 170 sugar mills that were crushing sugarcane on April 15 last year, around 305 sugar mills are still crushing sugarcane during the same period this year.
It is reported by Financial Express.
In a statement issued on Monday, ISMA said Maharashtra has recorded sugar production of 12.64 MT till April 15 this year as against 10.39 MT at the same time last year, almost 2.25 MT higher. In the current 2021-22 sugar season, reportedly 45 mills have stopped crushing operations in Maharashtra, while 153 sugar mills are still crushing cane. On the corresponding date in last season, only 54 mills were in operation in the state.
In Uttar Pradesh, the 120 sugar mills which were in operation have produced 9.44 MT of sugar till April 15 this year. Of these, 52 sugar mills have stopped crushing operations. A similar number of mills operated last year in the state and had produced 10.08 MT by the same date last year.
In Karnataka, 72 sugar mills have produced 5.9 MT of sugar. Currently, seven mills are operating in the state. During the corresponding period last year, all the operating 66 sugar mills had stopped operations for the main season and had produced 4.24 MT. However, in the special season (June – September) last year, mills in the state had produced another 0.22 MT of sugar.
In Tamil Nadu, out of 28 sugar mills that operated this season, one sugar mill has ended its crushing so far. As of April 15, sugar production in the state was 0.79 MT as compared with 0.55 MT produced in the corresponding date last year.
Gujarat has produced 1. 07 MT of sugar with 14 sugar mills in operation, while one mill has closed for this season. States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Odisha have collectively produced 3.13 MT. Bihar, Rajasthan and Odisha have already closed their crushing operations for the current season.
At least 8 MT of sugar export have been contracted so far this season. Of that, about 5.71 MT have been exported from October to March, as compared to about 3.18 MT exported in the last sugar year during the same period. It is also reported that about around 0.7 to 0.8 MT are in the pipeline for exports in April. Major export destinations this season include Indonesia and Bangladesh, accounting for almost 44% of total exports, as against 48% shared collectively by Indonesia and Afghanistan last year during the corresponding period.