The sugarcane crushing season in Maharashtra, unlike last year, will continue till mid-May due to a rise in output. So far, around 53.8 million tonnes (mt) cane has been crushed to produce 6.1 mt sugar, compared to crushing of close to 40 mt to produce 4.56 mt sugar in the corresponding period last year.
The state government and the Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories have predicted an output of 6.5 mt by the time the crushing season is over. “Crushing will go on till mid-May as sugar mills from Pune and Solapur regions have ample sugarcane to crush. These mills will close operations in phases by that time.The higher production is due to a 10-tonne increase in the per-acre yield,” Prakash Navare, managing director of the federation told Business Standard.
Last year, said federation sources, the crushing season had ended on March 31 due to shortage of cane. Close to 40 mt cane was crushed to produce 4.5 mt sugar. In 2007-08, however, the mills operated till May to produce nine mt sugar. In 2006-07, the mills worked till June.
The central government has revised its output estimate by 22 per cent to 18 mt in the 2009-10 season ending September. More cane is available for crushing following non-diversion to gur and khandsari units. India produced 14.7 mt sugar in the 2008-09 season (October-September).
Yogesh Pande, president of the state’s sugar brokers and merchants association, said, “If imports of white sugar are not banned with immediate effect, this will lead to a serious problem for the sugar industry in the country. This is because we have sufficient stocks and next year’s production is expected to be surplus. In Maharashtra, there is no lifting of sugar because traders are foreseeing a fall in prices due to reduction in global prices and a much higher output in Brazil. Due to excessive restrictions on the trade such as licensing, stock limits, lifting validity and restrictions on bulk consumers, traders are not keen to take any fresh positions.”
