Vizag mills upbeat about crushing

Four cooperative sugar mills in Visakhapatnam district are upbeat this crushing season on the back of increased sugarcane production.

“Last season, sugarcane farmers got good prices, and in the current season the crop area increased 10 per cent in this region resulting in a 2-3 per cent rise in sugarcane production per acre. In view of this, we expect better crushing this season,” said GV Ramaiah, managing director, Thandava Cooperative Sugars Limited.

These four cooperative mills put together crushed about 540,000 tonne sugarcane during the last season. This season they are targeting 1 million tonne.

Chodavaram cooperative sugar mill, which is the largest cooperative mill in the state, crushed 370,000 tonne sugarcane last season and hopes to crush 550,000 tonne this season. Etikoppaka, on the other hand, crushed 100,000 tonne sugarcane last season and is targeting 200,000 tonne this time around.

The other two Thandava and Anakapalli sugar mills expect to crush 160,000 tonne and 100,000 tonne respectively. Last season they crushed 50,000 tonne and 20,000 tonne.

Ramaiah said last season most of the farmers in and around Anakapalli used their produce for jaggery lured by the attractive price in the market. But this year, jaggery prices have fallen 30 per cent while sugarcane produce has increased. Hence, the Anakapalli mill is anticipating better crushing this season.

According to him, Chodavaram paid Rs 2,200 for per tonne sugarcane including profit sharing. This season Thandava and Anakapalli mills have announced Rs 1,600 for per tonne sugarcane while Chodavaram and Etikoppaka have declared Rs 1,800 for a tonne.

Sugar prices currently are in the range of Rs 2,800-2,900 per quintal.