NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India is expected to produce about 36.5 million tonnes of sugar in the new season that started on Oct 1, up 2% from the previous cycle, an association of sugar companies said on Monday. .
India, the world’s top sugar producer and second largest exporter behind Brazil, produced about 35.8 million tonnes of the sweetener in the 2021/22 season, according to the Indian Sugar Mills Association.
The mills will produce about 36.5 million tonnes of the sweetener during the current season, after diverting the equivalent of 4.5 million tonnes of sugar for ethanol production.
During the 2021/22 season, mills diverted 3.4 million tons of sugar to ethanol.
By 2022/23, India is likely to meet the target of blending 12% ethanol into gasoline.
India’s sugar stocks as of October 1, 2022, when the current season began, totaled around 5.5 million tonnes, and domestic consumption in the cycle is expected to be around 27.5 million tonnes, the association said. in a statement.
As a result, mills could export around 9 million tons of sugar.
India is ready to allow around 5 million tonnes of sugar exports in a first tranche of shipments in 2022/23.
“We will announce this year’s sugar export quota within a week,” said Sudhanshu Pandey, an official at the Ministry of Consumer, Food and Public Distribution.
India exported over 11 million tonnes of sugar in the previous season, 2021/22.
But this year the government is expected to allow mills to export around 5 million tonnes of sugar at first and for them to ship more later in the season, after having a better sense of this year’s production.
India has a relatively short window to export sugar as Brazilian production could drive global prices down through April, the association said, urging the government to announce this year’s export quota soon.
Taking advantage of attractive global prices, traders have already started signing agreements to export raw sugar for the current 2022/23 season.
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj)
#India #increase #sugar #production #association #predicts