Sugar output up at 13.4 mt till Feb

The country’s sugar output rose by over 16 per cent to 13.4 million tonnes in the first four-and-half months of the 2010-11 crop year against 11.5 mt in the year-ago period.

“Mills have reported a sugar production of 13.4 mt till February 15 of this crop year. The output is higher by 16 per cent from the year-ago period,” a senior government official told PTI.

The Government has estimated sugar output at 24.5 mt in the ongoing 2010-11 crop year (October-September) against around 19 mt in the previous year. The domestic consumption has been pegged at 22 mt.

The sugar crop year runs from October to September, but the crushing of sugarcane normally ends in April in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which together produces more than 60 per cent of the country’s total sugar output.

Last year, the country had to depend on sugar imports to augment domestic supplies and contain local prices, which had gone up to as high as Rs 50 per kg.

This year’s positive production estimates have kept retail prices under control at Rs 32-35 per kg and has given scope for some exports.