Govt to Export 85 Lakh Tonnes of Sugar to Global Market, says ISMA

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), international trading houses expect India to export at least 85 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar during the current season, which runs from April to September. "Trade reports show that over 72lt of sugar export has been contracted so far, with physical exports expected to be around 56-57 lt by the end of March 2022," ISMA said in a statement.

According to an ISMA statement issued on Monday, 518 sugar mills began crushing operations during the current season, compared to 505 mills that operated last year.

By March 31, they had produced 309.87 lt of sugar, compared to 278.71 at the previous year. The output has increased by 31.16 litres. About 152 mills have stopped crushing, while 366 sugar mills in the country are still crushing.

Maharashtra Leads

Sugar production in Maharashtra was 118.81 lt until March 31, 2022, compared to 100.47 at the previous year. During the current season, 30 mills in the state have shut down their crushing operations, with the majority of them located in the Kolhapur region and a few in the Solapur region.

The remaining 167 sugar mills continue to operate. Mills have crushed approximately 1,143 lt of sugarcane so far, a record high, surpassing approximately 1,014 lt cane crushed during the entire 2020-21 season.

There are 120 sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh that have produced 87.50 lt of sugar as of March 31, 2022. 32 sugar mills out of 120 have ceased crushing operations, the majority of which are located in Eastern UP. A similar number of mills were in operation in the state last year, producing 93.71 lt as of March 31, 2021. On the same date last year, 39 mills shut down their crushing operations.

Record in Karnataka

In Karnataka, 72 sugar mills produced 57.65 lt of sugar until March 31. Similarly, to Maharashtra, this year's sugar production is by far the highest on record. In Gujarat, 15 mills are currently operational, producing 10 lt of sugar. In Tamil Nadu, 28 sugar mills began crushing operations for 2021-22, producing 6.87 lt of sugar versus 5.08 lt produced by 26 sugar mills in 2020-21.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Odisha produced the remaining 29.04 lt of sugar. For the current campaign, Bihar and Rajasthan have already completed their crushing operations.

Ethanol Status

As of March 27, 2022, 131.69 crore litres of ethanol had been supplied against the total LOI quantity of 416.33 crore litres. As of today, the contracted quantity is 402.66 crore litres, compared to LOIs of approximately 416 crore litres issued by OMCs. According to the ISMA, the country has averaged a blending percentage of 9.60% until the end of March since December 2021.