India’s sugar production at 306.65 lakh tonnes (lt), will be 35.5 lt more than last sugar season, but mills re confident that they would be able to sell 8 to 10 lt more in domestic market as compared to the last year and export 70 lt, which is 11 lt more as compared to the previous season.

This is expected to leave the sugar industry with 20 to 25 lt less sugar stocks at the end of the season, which culminates on September 30, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Thursday. According to the Department of Food and Public Distribution records, closing stocks at the end of the last season was 110 lt.

As on June 15, the ISMA said only five sugar mills are continuing with sugarcane crushing and the rest of the mills across the country closed crushing operations already.

In Uttar Pradesh, till June 15, 120 mills produced 110.61 lt of sugar which was 15.69 lt lower than the production of 126.3 lt produced same period last year. One mill in the State is still going on with crushing.

In Maharashtra, crushing season had concluded on May 31 and the mills of the State produced 106.28 lt of sugar, which is about 44.59 lt higher as compared to 61.69 lt produced in the previous sugar season.

In Karnataka, where crushing was concluded by April 15, mills produced 41.67 lt of sugar, which is 7.87 lt more than last year. One mill, however, has commenced crushing during a pre-decided special session. Last year during one such special session, mills in the State produced 1.14 lt of sugar.

In Tamil Nadu, 28 mills produced 6.7 lt of sugar as compared to 6.12 lt last year, but three mills have started operations for special season. A similar special season last year produced an additional 2 lt of sugar in the previous season. The rest of the sugar-producing States produced a combined 41.39 lt till June 15, ISMA said.

As per information provided by mills and estimations made by ISMA, sugar sales in May was as 22.35 lt against the sales quota of 22 lt. Total sales in the current season up to May are estimated at 174.96 lt against domestic sales quota of 169 lt given by the government. Last year, during the same period sugar sales were estimated at 166.40 lt as against sales quota of 161 lt. “This would mean that sales in the current year up to May are 8.56 lt higher or about 5 per cent higher, than the last year corresponding period,” ISMA said.

There is a misunderstanding in the market that demand of sugar has fallen in the last couple of months. It needs to be noted that sugar sales by sugar mills in March was 22.34 lt, in April 23.lt tons and in May 22.35 lt. Going by these indications, the sugar sales in the current year may cross the estimation of 260 lt.

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