India's sugar exports touch 5.11 mn tonnes so far this year: AISTA

According to trade association AISTA, sugar mills have exported 5.11 million tonnes of the sweetener so far in the present 2020-21 marketing year, which ends in September, with the majority of exports going to Indonesia.

According to the company, an extra 6,78,237 tonne of sugar is on its way to refineries in ports and total of 2,02,521 tonnes of sugar are now being loaded.

The All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) stated in a statement that mills had inked contracts to export the whole 6 million tonne sugar quota given by the food ministry in January this year.

An extra 8,00,000 tonnes of sugar has been contracted without subsidy under the OGL (open general license) method.

From October through September is the sugar marketing season.

From January 1 to August 5, 2021, mills shipped a total of 5.11 million tonnes of sugar, according to AISTA.

Indonesia has received the most exports this year, with 1.69 million tonnes, followed by Afghanistan with 6,23,967 tonnes, the United Arab Emirates with 4,60,816 tonnes, and Sri Lanka with 3,78,280 tonnes.

"We are proud to say that the value of the sugar exported/in the process of being exported is in excess of USD 2.5 billion, or about Rs. 18,600 crore. This contributes to the country's export earnings, particularly in a pandemic year, and increases the liquidity in the hands of sugar mills to pay cane price to farmers."  AISTA stated.

India has also managed to contract about 6 million tonnes of sugar without export to Iran, which has the capacity to acquire 1.2 million tonnes, according to the industry group.

With the changing political landscape in the global markets, finding a way to export sugar to Iran is smart. This will help India expand its market and raise the price of Indian sugar," the statement continued.

As the current marketing year draws to a close, AISTA stated that a timely declaration of the sugar export policy for the following year is critical.

It stated that due to weather issues in Brazil, the worldwide market has risen from 17.28 cents per pound on July 10 to 19.59 cents per pound on August 11, 2021, a gain of roughly 13.4%.

AISTA also asked the government to resolve pending subsidy claims as well as address the container scarcity and increase in ocean freight.

Many prior year's export subsidy allegations have still to be resolved. It stated that these claims should be addressed and paid as soon as possible since mills will want cash before the start of the season.

The considerable increase in ocean freight and container non-availability has decreased export house profits and is also proving to be a major bottleneck in export operations, according to the report.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.