India plans to allow sugar exports from October amid signs of bumper crop

By Pratik Parija

 

India may permit local mills to export sugar in the next season that starts in October as early signs suggest a bumper cane harvest, according to a person familiar with the matter.

 

The crop looks promising across key producing regions, helped by higher acreage and ample rains, the person said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. As local consumption is set to rise only marginally, continued higher-than-average precipitation in the current monsoon period could lead to a sugar surplus, the person said. 

 

A food ministry spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

 

A move by the second-largest sugar producer to allow overseas shipments could further weigh on world prices, with New York futures already hovering near a four-year low. India introduced an export quota system in 2022-23 after dry weather and crop diseases dented output.

 

With cane acreage expanding in major growing states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. predicts a production jump of 19 per cent in 2025-26.

 

The South Asian nation is expected to strike a balance between advancing clean fuel goals and managing domestic availability. 

 

Sugar factories may divert at least 4 million tons of sugar to make ethanol in 2025-26 to avoid a domestic surplus, said the person. That compares with more than 3.2 million tons this season. 

 

India, a key supplier to countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates, permitted mills in January to ship as much as 1 million tons this crop year. It has exported much larger volumes in the past.   (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)