The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra mills post 50 bps increase in sugar recoveries

Sweet n bitter
Crushing down to 372.41 lakh tonnes from 402.98 lt last year during the same period.
Sugar production has dropped only 2.8 per cent, from 44.15 lt to 42.91 lt.

Harish Damodaran

Advertisement

New Delhi, Feb. 6 Mills in Maharashtra have recorded an over 50 basis point increase in sugar recovery rates, thereby partially neutralising the lower levels of cane crushing so far during the current 2007-08 season (October-September).

Down 7.6%

As on Tuesday, the mills in the country’s No. 1 sugar producing State had crushed 372.41 lakh tonnes (lt) of cane, which is 7.6 per cent below the 402.98 lt of the corresponding period of the 2006-07 season.

But on the other hand, sugar production has dropped only 2.8 per cent, from 44.15 lt to 42.91 lt.

This translates into an average sugar recovery of 11.52 per cent so far in this season, compared with 10.96 per cent cumulative figure for 2006-07. So, will this higher recovery offset the lower cane yields this time and result in total sugar output matching the all-time-high of 90.95 lt of 2006-07?

Not necessarily, says Mr Prakash Naiknavare, Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation (MSCSFF). “In Maharashtra, the peak recovery period (when sucrose levels in cane reach the maximum) is from the third week of December to the third week of February.

In 2006-07, the mills started crushing from mid-October, whereas this time the season could take off only from mid-November. The mills, therefore, crushed a greater portion of their cane in the peak recovery period,” he noted.

‘Not comparable’

According to him, it would not be really appropriate to compare the recovery rates for the two seasons. “Normally, the recovery levels start rising gradually before peaking in the late-December to late-February period and then dropping again.

But this time, the peak was reached much earlier,” Mr Naiknavare said, adding “we will start seeing a dip in recoveries from end-February and right to the tail-end of the season till mid-June”.

During 2006-07, mills in Maharashtra crushed 798 lt of cane and produced 90.95 lt of sugar at an average recovery of 11.40 per cent.

This season, the estimates of cane crushing range from 700 lt to 750 lt, which, on an average recovery of 11.50 per cent, translates into a sugar output of 81-86 lt.

Factory results

The factories that have posted very high recovery rates so far this season include the Kolhapur-based Sadashivrao Mandlik Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK), at 13.17 per cent, and Chhatrapati Shahu SSK (12.87 per cent), the Hutatma Kisan Ahir SSK (13.03 per cent) at Sangli, Kisanvir SSK at Satara (12.58 per cent), Ghodganga SSK at Pune (12.02 per cent), Chandrabhaga SSK at Solapur (11.81 per cent), Sanjivani SSK at Ahmednagar (11.96 per cent), and Niphad SSK at Nasik (11.56 per cent).

More Stories on : Sugar | Performance | Maharashtra

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page