• Friday, March 29, 2024

Business

India’s top sugar-producing state Maharashtra to see less production as mills shut early

An Indian farmers stands with bullock carts laden with sugarcane outside a sugar factory in the village of Shani Shignapur in Ahmednagar District some 200kms east of Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

Maharashtra, India’s top sugar-producing state, could see 16 per cent less production than what was previously estimated as mills were shutting down due to limited availability of sugarcane, Reuters reported citing a senior government official on Monday (27).

A slump in production in sugar could hurt India, the world’s second-biggest exporter, from allowing additional exports potentially supporting global prices and allowing competitors such as Brazil and Thailand to raise exports, the report added.

Maharashtra, which is located in India’s west, accounts for over a third of the country’s sugar output and could produce between 10.7 and 10.8 million tonnes in the 2022-23 marketing year that kicked off on October 1, down from the earlier forecast of 12.8 million tonnes, Shekhar Gaikwad, the state’s sugar commissioner said.

He told Reuters, “Mills are closing at a rapid pace. Almost all mills will close by this month end. Only a handful will be operational in the first week of April.”

Sugar mills in Maharashtra were operational until the middle of June in 2021/22 as they harvested a record crop.

The state, which often surprises the global sugar market with wide swings in production, has seen an output of 10.38 million tonnes of sugar as of Sunday (26), lower than the last year’s 11.6 million tonnes during the same period.

Out of 210 sugar mills that started functioning this year, 155 mills halted crushing as of Sunday.

“The sharp drop in Maharashtra’s production means there won’t be additional exports,” a government official told the news outlet on condition of anonymity.

India mainly exports sugar to countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sudan, Malaysia, Somalia and the UAE.

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