Sugar exports to touch 4 lakh tonne in 2 months

The country will export 4 lakh tonne of sugar over the next two months. Sugar mills have secured permits to export the quantity following the withdrawal of export ban.

Of this, about 2.10 lakh tonne is under the advance licence (AL) scheme and the rest under open general licence (OGL). With an expected glut in production that may exceed 230 lakh tonne, more sugar is likely to go out.

"The companies that have sought permits under AL include Simbhaoli Sugars (28,997 tonne), EID Parry (28,665 tonne), Renuka Sugars (25,674 tonne), NCS Sugars (20,836 tonne), Dharani Sugars (15,418 tonne) and Sakthi Sugars (5,000 tonne), while companies under the OGL are Bajaj Hindusthan (14,000 tonne), Bannari Amman Sugars (10,000 tonne), Renuka Sugars (5,018 tonne), Rajshree Sugars (2,910 tonne) etc," said a senior food ministry official.

The permits are valid for two months from the date of issue, within which companies will have to export.

The companies that are exporting under AL had imported raw sugar between 2002-03 and 2004-05 sugar seasons (October-September) with an obligation to re-export.

The government had imposed ban on sugar exports last July, which was lifted in phases "" December 18 for AL and January 11 for OGL. While domestic sugar realisations are low at Rs 14,800 a tonne (ex-factory) in Uttar Pradesh and Rs 13,000 a tonne (ex-factory) in Maharashtra, export realisations at $330-340 (Rs 14,560-15,000) a tonne are feasible for mills, particularly those in Maharashtra.

However, mills will have to incur additional expenses for transportation to ports in the range of Rs 1,500-2,000 a tonne.

The Union government recently exempted the quantity of sugar that a mill exports from levy obligation in order to facilitate sugar exports.

During 2005-06 (April-March), the country exported 3,16,850 tonne of sugar. In the current year, exports surged to 10,04,317 tonne before the ban came into effect in July.