Sugar prices under check on muted demand
March 03, 2021
Output up 20% in first 5 months of current season
Sugar prices have continued to remain under pressure over the last three months in most States on muted demand even as production picks up.
Millers are pinning their hopes on summer demand and the export market, while seeking an upward revision in minimum selling price (MSP) to avoid build-up of cane arrears.
Presently, the ex-mill sugar prices are ruling lower by ₹80-100 per quintal over the same period last year. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, the prices continue to be around the MSP level of ₹3,100 per quintal, while in Tamil Nadu they hover between ₹3,200 and ₹3,225. In the North, the ex-mill prices are in the range of ₹3,160-3,180 per quintal.
In the current marketing year that begun on Oct. 1, 502 sugar mills have started operations, but 98 mills stopped crushing by February end, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.
New Delhi, Mar 3: India's sugar production rose by 20 per cent to 233.77 lakh tonnes in the first five months of 2020-21 marketing year ending September
Indian sugar mills' output rose by a fifth to 23.38 million tonnes in the first five months of the 2020/21 marketing year from a year earlier, while a few mills closed operations ahead of normal schedule, a trade body said on Wednesday.