In 2013-14 sugar season, Indian sugar industry produces 239 lakh tonne.

The Indian sugar industry has produced about 239 lakh tonne sugar in the 2013-14 sugar season (i.e. between October 1, 2013 and May 15, 2014). During the corresponding period the previous year, it produced about 247 lakh tonne.

The sugar mills in Maharashtra produced 77 lakh tonne sugar, followed by the sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh (64.5 lakh tonne) and Karnataka (just over 41 lakh tonne).

Until May 15 last year, sugar mills in Maharashtra produced almost a similar quantity, whereas those in Uttar Pradesh produced ten lakh tonne less, and those in Karnataka produced over seven lakh tonne more.

Crushing operations have come to an end at most sugar mills across India, barring twenty mills in Tamil Nadu, the fourth-largest sugar-producing state in India.

In the southern state, the sugar production (11.5 lakh tonne) is significantly lower than last year, when they produced almost 16 lakh tonne.

There is a special crushing season for the sugar mills in Tamil Nadu and some sugar mills in southern Karnataka - they crush sugarcane in the months of August-September 2014 also. Some sugarcane would be crushed by these sugar mills for a few weeks, before the current sugar season ends.

As per the cane availability for the current sugar season and the current sugar production of about 239 lakh tonne produced upto May 15, 2014, it is estimated that the sugar production for the full sugar season of 2013-14 should be around 242 lakh tonne.

The sugar dispatches made by the sugar mills during the full season 2012-13 was 228 lakh tonne for domestic consumption.

Compared to this and considering the trend of sugar dispatches till now, it is estimated that the sugar dispatches by the sugar mills for domestic requirement would be higher than last year and may be around 240 lakh tonne.

The opening balance as on October 1, 2013, for the 2013-14 season was around 93 lakh tonne. It is expected that around 19-20 lakh tonne sugar would be exported by India this season (i.e. between October 2013 and September 2014).
Therefore, considering the consumption and production numbers, the closing balance as on September 30, 2014 is expected to be around 74-75 lakh tonne.

The new season would commence with almost 18-20 lakh tonne less than last year, but there would be a surplus of about 15-20 lakh tonne, which can be exported as and when the opportunity arises.

However, the pace of sugar exports has slowed down because of the unreasonable and unexpected reduction of the export incentive from Rs 3,300 per tonne to Rs 2,277 per tonne by the food ministry, which the sugar industry and exporters feel is not as per the gazette notification of February 28, 2014.

Source : fnbnews.com