EID Parry sees cane availability growing in states other than TN this year

Company was able to partially offset impact of falling cane output in Tamil Nadu due to better price realisation and permission to import raw sugar

Murugappa Group firm EID Parry says if the northeast monsoon is good for the next six weeks, Tamil Nadu would see better sugarcane availability during sugar year 2018-19. Supply was tight last year in the state, due to drought in the region.

Overall production in the country was likely to rise from 20.3 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 24.5-25 million tonnes, said S Suresh, managing director.

"As of now, Tamil Nadu is going to be a bit tighter in terms of sugar," he told analysts in a recent earnings call. In the quarter ended September, there was a 46 per cent drop in cane availability for the state. The company was able to mitigate the impact to an extent due to better price realisation and raw sugar import allowed by the government. The company has five sugar factories in Tamil Nadu, three in Karnataka and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry.

He added the northeast monsoon had started showing some good signs in the interior part of Tamil Nadu.