The Indian Sugar Mills Association, led by president Niraj Shirgaokar, has confirmed that the country has sufficient sugar stocks to meet the anticipated increase in demand during the festival season, which typically sees a rise in sugar consumption. Over the past two months, sugar prices in India have surged more than 40%, reaching record highs.
This price increase is attributed to speculative buying rather than a genuine shortage of supply. In response to the rising prices, the Indian government has permitted the duty-free import of 1 million metric tons of raw sugar for the first time in nearly a decade.
Shirgaokar emphasized that the current sugar stocks are more than adequate to satisfy the upcoming festival demand, dismissing any claims of a real shortage as artificial.
For the marketing year ending September 30, India produced 27.9 million tons of sugar, slightly below the annual consumption range of 28 million to 28.5 million tons, but an increase from last year's production of 26.1 million tons.
Additionally, around 3 million tons of sugar have been diverted for ethanol production, and 800,000 tons have been exported this year out of the 2 million tons allowed. As the new marketing year begins, India will have opening stocks of approximately 3.5 million tons, down from 5 million tons the previous year