Sugar production may hit 33 million tonne this year

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Friday said that overall sugar production in 2018-19 will be around 33 million tonne, an increase of 500,000 tonne year-on-year, but it would go down next year owing to decrease in plantation and diversion to ethanol production.

In a statement, the ISMA said 32.1 million tonnes of sugar was produced till April-end since the current sugar year started in October.

It is about over 900,000 tonne higher compared to the production during the corresponding period last year, which was 31.2 million tonne.

The overall output is likely to touch 33 million tonne by the end of current season by September-end.
The sugar recovery in north India has been substantially better than the recovery achieved in the last season, the ISMA said.

Even in other parts of the country, including Maharashtra and Karnataka, the sugar recovery is better than last year, though not as high as in north India, it said.

Maharashtra’s sugar production reached 10.7 million tonne till April-end, while Uttar Pradesh produced 11.27 million tonne. It is 4.32 million tonnes for Karnataka.

Sugar mills in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have produced 1.12 million tonne, 705,000 tonne, 760,000 tonne and 530,000 tonne, respectively.

Similarly, sugar mills of Bihar, Punjab and Haryana have produced 835,000 tonne, 770,000 tonne and 675,000 tonne as on April 30.

Considering the opening balance of 10.7 million tonne on October 1, 2018, estimated production of 33 million tonne and domestic consumption of 26 million tonne as well as exports of three million tonne, sugar stock at the end of the current sugar year 2018-19 is expected to be at a higher level of around 14.7 million tonne, the industry body said.

The ISMA said the field reports from Maharashtra suggested that sugarcane planting in most of the regions for next 2019-20 season was significantly lower than that in the current season.

Also, additional ethanol production capacities are getting installed and the existing ones are being expanded at a very fast pace, so the sugar industry will be better placed to divert larger quantities of ‘B’ category heavy molasses and sugarcane juice away from sugar to ethanol in the last season, it said.

–IANS
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