Sugar shares hit 52-week high; Dharani Sugars, Thiru Arooran Sugars up over 10%

Dhampur Sugar, DCM Shriram Ind, Dharani Sugars, Thiru Arooran, Mawana Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar and Upper Ganges were quoting at their respective 52-week highs.

Shares of sugar companies were trading higher by 17% on the BSE in an otherwise range bound market after the rating firm ICRA said the profitability trend for domestic sugar mills is likely to be better during the crushing season 2015-16 on supply correction.

Thiru Arooran Sugars (up 17% at Rs 83.75), Dharani Sugars & Chemicals (14% at Rs 53.60), Mawana Sugars (10% at Rs 53.65), Uttam Sugar Mills (8% at Rs 59), Ugar Sugar Works (7% at Rs 33.50), DCM Shriram Industries (5% at Rs 156) and Upper Ganges Sugar & Industries (5% at Rs 226) were up more than 5% each on the BSE. At 09:39 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.09% at 26,868.

Dhampur Sugar Mills, DCM Shriram Industries, Dharani Sugars & Chemicals, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Mawana Sugars, Thiru Arooran Sugars and Upper Ganges Sugar & Industries were quoting at their respective 52-week highs.

Total 37 sugar companies reported a combined net profit of Rs 1,553 crore for the quarter ended March 2016 (Q4FY16) against an aggregate net loss of Rs 486 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

ICRA estimates domestic sugar production at around 25.2 million metric tonnes during the sugar year 2016 (SY2016), a decline of 11% over the previous year. Lower production along with exports of around 1.6 million tonnes is likely to bring down the closing stocks to around 7.6 million tonnes in SY2016 from around 9.5 million tonnes in SY2015, the Business Standard report suggests. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT.

Credit rating agency Smera Rating Limited estimates that sugar prices will be range bound between Rs 3,300 and Rs 3,900 per quintal based on a standard deviation of Rs 330 and average at Rs 3,600 by the next seasonal cycle that starts from September2016 and ends at April 2017.

However, Smera believes that this price point will fall further if, as expected, the monsoon remains healthy. Apart from India and other South Asian nations, sugarcane production has been very strong in Brazil and Latin American countries. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT.