Sugar exports may touch 85 lakh tonne this year: ISMA

New Delhi: India's sugar export may touch 85 lakh tonne in the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year ending September, as per the estimates of global trade houses, industry body ISMA said on Monday.

While the country has contracted 72 lakh tonne of sugar export, the physical exports have been around 56-57 lakh tonne till March-end this year, it said. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. Crushing operation is still on as 366 mills were operating till March-end, while 152 mills had stopped the crushing.

Releasing the latest sugar production figures, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said: "News from the international trade houses indicate that global market is expecting 85 lakh tonne of sugar exports from India, in the current season." According to the industry body, sugar production reached 309.87 lakh tonne till March of the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year, higher than 278.71 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are the top three sugar producing states in the country. As per the ISMA data, sugar production in Maharasthra rose to 118.81 lakh tonne till March from 100.47 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. In Uttar Pradesh, sugar production remained lower at 87.50 lakh tonne till March this year compared with 93.71 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

Sugar output in Karnataka, the country's third-largest sugar-producing state, rose substantially to 57.65 lakh tonne till March as against 42.38 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

On the ethanol front, ISMA said against the total Letter of Intent (LoI) for supply of 416.33 crore litres, 131.69 crore litres of ethanol have been supplied as on March 27 this year.

Contracted quantity as on date is 402.66 crore litres as against LoIs of about 416 crore litres issued by oil marketing companies,it said. The country on an average has achieved a blending percentage of 9.60 per cent between December 2021 and March 2022, it added.