Sugar Mills Are Aggressively Making Export Deals After Govt's Approval: Report

The central government on November 4 approved the export of 6 million tonnes of sugar in the 2022/2023 marketing year that began on October 1

India is the world's biggest producer of sugar and its second-biggest exporter.

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After the central government permitted sugar exports, Indian sugar mills are aggressively signing export deals, contracting for about 1 million tonnes, reported Reuters. The dealers said that they are eager to make deals in global markets as they get higher prices for their products. "The industry was waiting for the government to announce the policy," said a dealer with a global trading house based in Mumbai, the financial capital told Reuters.

The report said that this shipment from India could weigh on global prices, but in India, this could prop up domestic prices. India is the world's biggest producer of sugar and its second-biggest exporter. 

The dealer said, "As soon as the policy was announced, traders and millers started signing export deals."

The government on November 4, approved the export of 6 million tonnes of sugar in the 2022/2023 marketing year that started on October 1.

MEIR Commodities India’s Managing Director Rahil Shaikh said that after the announcement, mills have sealed deals to export about 1 million tonnes of sugar. “Mills are getting a premium of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per tonne from the overseas sale. So, they are very interested in exports,” he added.

The report said that Indian mills are likely to sell the entire allocated quota of 6 million tonnes before the end of December. India exported more than 11 million tonnes of sugar in 2021/2022. 

Most of these were from mills in the Maharashtra and Karnataka, the report said. A New-Delhi-based dealer said that attracted by the higher prices, mills in Uttar Pradesh are also interested in exports this year.

"This year everyone is interested in exports but the quota is limited," he said.

In a statement, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said that it expects that the government might approve 3 million tonnes more export on top of the 6 million tonnes approved.