India’s sugar output in October is likely to achieve only 40 per cent of the earlier assured quantity.
Based on assurances from individual mills and extrapolating of non-responsive ones, the apex industry body had in August sent a written commitment to the Union ministry of food for 800,000 tonnes in October. To achieve this, mills planned to advance the crushing season by three to four weeks.Based on Isma’s earlier assurance of 800,000 tonnes in new season supply in October and nearly four million tonnes of carryover stock, largely in Uttar Pradesh, the central government had allowed only 500,000 tonnes and 300,000 tonnes of raw sugar import to boost its supplies in the drought-hit western and southern Indian deficit states, respectively.
Most mills in UP are now looking to start the crushing season by the last week of October, anticipating a labour shortage ahead of Diwali. With bumper cane availability, the UP government estimates a 10 per cent rise in output this season at 10 million tonnes (mt), a fourth of India’s overall sugar production estimate of 25.1 mt for October 2017-September 2018. “We plan to start cane crushing for the new season after a couple of days of Diwali, which falls on October 19 this year. By then, labourers would return from Diwali holidays. Still, we are seven to 10 days ahead of the normal schedule in previous years,” said B J Maheshwari, director, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries. With deficient rain during the previous monsoon, sugar production was 20.29 mt for 2016-17, against the estimated consumption of 23.5 mt. “Sugar mills in Maharashtra are planning to start the new season from November 1. The delay was aimed to avoid problems in harvesting of cane due to heavy rainfall in September which left fields muddy. Also, actual maturing of cane takes place in October and November. We do not want farmers to harvest pre-matured cane and have lower sugar recovery,” said Sanjiv Babar, managing director, Maharashtra State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories. Sugar production in Maharashtra is estimated to jump this year by 55 per cent to 7.4 mt, from 4.2 mt last year.