India exports 17.5 lakh tonne sugar from Oct-Mar

Exports increased on the back of surplus stock and incentives offered by the Centre

India has exported 17.5 lakh tonne sugar during the first six months of the 2013-14 marketing year ending September with maximum quantity shipped to Iran, Parliament was informed today.

According to the data provided by the Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Raosaheb Patil Danve, in a written reply to Lok Sabha, India exported 17,53,840 tonnes during the October 2013 and March 2014 period.

The country had exported 3.48 lakh tonnes of sugar in the full 2012-13 marketing year (October-September), as per the data compiled by the apex sugar industry body ISMA.

Iran was the major exporting destination for India at 3,65,880 tonnes, followed by Sudan (2,42,654 tonnes), Sri Lanka (2,24,391 tonnes), United Arab Emirates (1,41,388 tonne) and Somalia (1,27,077 tonnes), the government data showed.

Exports have increased in the 2013-14 marketing year on the back of surplus stock and incentives offered by the Centre in February for export of four million tones of raw sugar.

Sugar production of India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, is estimated to fall at about 242 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 marketing year (October-September) compared with nearly 252 million tonnes in the previous year.

The minister said that sugar prices are currently stable in the domestic market.

"The prices of sugar in the domestic market depends upon the number of factors viz, cost of raw material, conversion cost, production, domestic demand and supply situation, market sentiments, international sugar price etc. As such it is not possible to indicate the impact of one factor alone," Danve added.

India's domestic demand is estimated at about 230 lakh tonnes annually.