TheoutbreakofCOVID-19hasimpactednotonlytheglobalsugarpricesbutalsoreducedofftakeofthesweetenerfromthedomesticmillsinlastfortnight,buttheimpactcouldbe"temporary",industrybodyISMAsaidonTuesday.
"TheCOVID-19impacthasalsoreducedsugarofftakefromsugarmillsinthelast15daysorso.Itisunderstoodthatsugarinthepipelinewouldhavegotsoldinthewholesaleandretailmarketinthelastcoupleofweeks,"theIndianSugarMillsAssociation(ISMA)saidinastatement.
Asperexpertsinthemarket,itisexpectedthatfreshbuyingfromthesugarmillsmaytakeplacesoonbecausethepipelinewouldhavelargelydriedupduringthelastcoupleofweeks.Thatshouldcontrolsugarpricesandthebuyingshouldhelpthesugarmills,itsaid.
TheISMAfurthersaid:"ThecurrentunprecedentedsituationduetooutbreakofCOVID-19hasimpactedtheglobalsugarpricesalso.However,theimpactcouldbetemporary."
Sharingthelatestsugarexportdata,theindustrybodysaidmillshavedespatchedalmost3milliontonnessugarfromtheirfactoriesforexporttillMarch15ofthisseasonagainstthemandatoryquotaof6milliontonnes.
"Aspermarketsources,about3.6to3.8milliontonnesofsugarhavebeencontractedforexportssofar,"itsaid.
TheISMAsaidthefallinsugarproductioninThailandtothetuneof5milliontonnesascomparedtolastyear,andtherecentdecisionoftheIndonesianGovernmenttoallow600ICUMSAsugarataconcessionalimportdutyfromIndia,AustraliaandThailandgivesanadditionalopportunitytoIndiatoexportlargequantitiesofsugartoIndonesia.
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Inaddition,IndonesiahasissuedanadditionalimportquotatoitsrefineriesandconsideringthatsugaravailabilityfromThailandislowertotheextentof5milliontonnes,whichwillalsoreducesugarexportsfromThailandtoIndonesia,theIndianrawsugarhasaverygoodchanceofgettingexportedtoIndonesia.Hence,itisexpectedthatsugarexportsfromIndiawillagainpickupsoon,itadded.
Ondomesticsugarproduction,theindustrybodysaidthecountryhasmanufactured21.58milliontonnesofsugartillMarch15oftheongoing2019-20season(October-September),lowerthan27.36milliontonnesintheyearagoperiod.
SugarproductioninMaharashtra--thecountry''slargestsugarproducingstate--fellto5.58milliontonnestillMarch15,asagainst10.08milliontonnesinthesameperiodlastyear.
About56millshavealreadyclosedtheircrushingoperationsinthestateandonly90sugarmillsareoperating.However,thedailyrateofcrushinginthecurrentseasonissignificantlylowerthanlastyearandthemillscurrentlyoperatingwillbeclosingearlierthanlastyear,ISMAsaid.
WhereasproductioninUttarPradesh,thecountry'ssecondlargestproducingstate,roseto8.71milliontonnessofarwhencomparedto8.41milliontonnesayearago.
MillsinUPhadstartedabout10-12daysearlierthanlastyear,and,therefore,haveproducedslightlymorethanwhattheyproducedinthelastseasononMarch15.ItisestimatedthatUPwillbeproducingsimilarquantityofsugaraswasproducedlastyearataround11.8milliontonnes.
TheproductioninKarnataka,thecountry'sthirdlargestsugarproducingstate,declinedto3.33milliontonnesasagainst4.24milliontonnesinthesaidperiod.
SugarproductioninGujarattouched7,78,000tonnes,Bihar6,38,000tonnes,Haryana4,89,000tonnes,Punjab4,84,000tonnes,TamilNadu4,12,000tonnes,whileAndhraPradeshandTelangana4,00,000tonnes,Chhattisgarh3,85,000tonnesandUttarakhand3,22,000tonnestillMarch15ofthecurrentseason.
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