The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Monday requested the Central government to relax stockholding limits it had imposed on traders as there were early indications of a bumper production in the current crushing season.

The stockholding limits are in force till December 31 this year. The industry body said that restriction on trader stocks at a time of higher production and lower offtake may hit the cash-flow situation of sugar producers. This, in turn, may impact the payments to be made to sugarcane farmers.

As many as 313 mills in the country have produced 13.73 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar in the first 45 days of the current season (October 2017-September 2018)against 7.67 lt by 222 mills during the corresponding period last year. “As expected, crushing for the sugar season 2017-18 has started earlier than previous seasons,” ISMA said in a release.

Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra accounted for much of the increase in production so far. While UP sugar mills produced 5.67 lt of sugar as compared to the 1.93 lt same period last year, mills in Maharashtra produced 3.26 lt (1.92 lt).

ISMA said the ex-mill sugar prices which were almost flat from March 2017 to September 2017, when the all-India average ex-mill sugar prices were around ₹3,600 per quintal, has seen a fall of ₹100-200 in various parts of the country. The fall is mostly reported for the last year’s sugar, which is generally sold at a discounted rate whenever the new season’s sugar comes into the market, it added.

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