Sugar output up 26% in Oct-Dec buoyed by Maharashtra and UP: ISMA

The country's sugar output rose by 26 per cent to 103.26 lakh tonnes in the October-December period of current season compared to the same period of previous year, according to industry body ISMA.

Mills had produced 81.91 lakh tonnes of the sweetener in the same period of 2016-17 season (October-September).

The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has pegged total sugar output at 251 lakh tonnes in the ongoing 2017-18 season, as against 202 lakh tonnes last year. Consumption is estimated to be 250 lakh tonnes this year.

Releasing the latest data, the ISMA said the increase in sugar output so far is basically from two major producing states -- Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Sugar output in Uttar Pradesh has increased to 38.80 lakh tonnes in October-December of this season from 26.78 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. The average recovery rate of the sweetener remained higher in the state at 10.15 per cent.

In Maharasthra, the output rose to 38.24 lakh tonnes from 25.35 lakh tonnes in the said period. The sugar recovery stood at 10.23 per cent.

Production in Karnataka, the third biggest producer, rose to 16.17 lakh tonnes in October-December this year from 15.43 lakh tonnes last year.

Sugar output in Gujarat was at 3.70 lakh tonnes, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana at 1.90 lakh tonnes, Tamil Nadu at 1.70 lakh tonnes, Bihar at 1.65 lakh tonnes, Haryana at 1.80 lakh tonnes, Punjab at 1.60 lakh tonnes, Uttarakhand at 1.20 lakh tonnes and Madhya Pradesh at 1.30 lakh tonnes.

With regard to import of 3 lakh tonnes of raw sugar permitted by the government in September 2017, ISMA said 2.35 lakh tonnnes of raw sugar has been imported so far, of which 2 lakh tonnes has been refined.

The industry body said that sugar prices, which had fallen in the last couple of months, are witnessing an improvement in parts of the country.