By Rajendra Jadhav
MUMBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - Indian mills produced 31.1
million tonnes of sugar since the current season began on Oct.
1, a fall of 5.4% year on year, as many mills closed early due
to limited availability of sugar cane, a leading trade body said
on Tuesday.
Lower sugar output from India, the world's biggest producer
of the sweetener, will leave hardly any surplus for additional
exports during the current 2022/23 season.
Out of 532 mills that started operations in the current
season, 400 mills closed operations, including all mills from
the top producing western state of Maharashtra, the Indian Sugar
Mills Association said in a statement.
Maharashtra's production fell to 10.5 million tonnes from
13.7 million tonnes produced a year ago, the association said.
Reuters was the first to report in December on the likely
drop in production.
"The production drop in Maharashtra pulled down the
country's total production. There is no scope for additional
exports," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
The government allowed mills to export only 6.1 million
tonnes of sugar in the 2022/23 season, but Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's administration was expected to allow a second
tranche of shipments.
India's absence from the market could lift global sugar
prices , which were trading near their highest
level in more than a decade, and allow rivals Brazil and
Thailand to increase shipments.
India exported a record 11.2 million tonnes of sugar in the
previous 2021/22 season.
India mainly exports sugar to Indonesia, Bangladesh,
Malaysia, Sudan, Somalia and United Arab Emirates.
The ISMA in late-January cut its 2022/23 output estimates
for the country by 7% to 34 million tonnes from the previous
forecast of 36.5 million tonnes. Last year, Indian mills
produced a record 35.8 million tonnes of sugar.
But the dealer said the production could fall to around 33
million tonnes and support local prices, which are rising due to
peak summer season demand.
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; editing by Uttaresh
Venkateshwaran)
Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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