BackIndia to ban sugar exports in new season beginning October: Report
India restricted the amount of exports during 2022-23 to ensure supply in domestic markets and keep a lid on prices, after selling a record 11 million tonnes (MT) of sugar in 2021-22.
PremiumIndia is likely to ban sugar exports during the upcoming season, starting October 1, according to a report by news website Moneycontrol. A notification in this regard can be expected in the first week of November, as per the report.
India restricted the amount of exports during 2022-23 to ensure supply in domestic markets and keep a lid on prices, after selling a record 11 million tonnes (MT) of sugar in 2021-22.
Contrary to the report, Kona Haque, head of research at ED&F Man Commodities said earlier this year that India is unlikely to export sugar in 2023-24 season as output will be less than a year earlier.
Nearly a month ago government sources told news agency Reuters that India is expected to ban mills from exporting sugar in the next season beginning October, halting shipments for the first time in seven years after lack of rain cut cane yields.
India's absence from the world market would be likely to increase benchmark prices in New York and London that are already trading around multi-year highs, triggering fears of further inflation on global food markets, according to the report.
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"India’s sugar production in the next season will be smaller than last year. And India is unlikely to export next year," said Haque. India allowed mills to export only 6.1 million tonnes of sugar during the current season to September 30, nearly half of the record 11.1 million tonnes sold last season.
The country is likely to receive an average amount of rainfall in September, after the driest August in more than a century. Although September rains would help the sugarcane crop, yields would be lower due to lower rainfall in August, according to the report.
Global sugar prices have risen because of concerns that drier than normal weather linked to the El Nino weather pattern would likely reduce the output in top producers such as India and Thailand.
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