Sugar output may rise as drought eases

Sugar output in India, the worlds biggest consumer, may rise 20 per cent in the year starting October as rains in the key growing areas improve yields, said a producers group that accounts for half the nations harvest.

Production may be 18 million metric tonnes, compared with 15 million tonnes in the year ending September 30, Vinay Kumar, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, said in an interview.

Sugar has almost doubled this year on concern the global shortage may prolong as drought damages cane crops in India, the second-biggest producer. Rains have returned to Uttar Pradesh, the nations biggest cane-growing state that has declared drought in 58 districts, the weather bureau said.

The crop is slightly better now because of rains in some of the cane-growing areas, Shyam Lal Gupta, secretary generation of the Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mills Association, said on August 12. Rains in August will go a long way in improving yields.

The forecast is higher than the 16.5 million tonnes predicted by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, a group of 190 mills in the nations second-biggest cane grower.

Bajaj Hindusthan, Indias biggest mill, expects production at 15-to-16 million tonnes.

Some areas are getting good rains and production may rise further if rains are good in September, Kumar said.