New Delhi; Coronavirus has impacted many countries worldwide. And countries are taking precautions like lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus. It has also hit the impact-export of commodities. But now it is expected that Sugar shipments are expected to normalize in the upcoming days.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), as per reports available from mills and ports, about 35 lakh tonnes of sugar have moved/dispatched from the mills for export. Contracts for export of sugar are again being signed, for various destinations, with major quantities being signed for exports to Indonesia and Iran. Shipments are also happening and are expected to normalize in the days to come.
3.53 lakh tons of MAEQ have been surrendered by some sugar mills in April 2020. The same has been reallocated on 30th April 2020, by the Government amongst sugar mills willing to export. Therefore, it is estimated that 3.53 lakh tons will surely get exported and that further contracts will get signed in the near future for more exports out of India.
The Government has allowed extension of time to sign contracts for exports and desptaches upto 30th June 2020, but has said that thereafter MAEQ would be deducted from mills that don’t export, and will also penalize them by making them ineligible for buffer subsidy. Therefore, another round of reallocations is expected in two months, which will further boost exports from India.
As compared to last year’s sugar sales in the first 5 months of the season, the sugar despatches from sugar mills this year was higher by 10.24 lakh tons till Feb, 2020. Due to lockdown, the sugar sales in March and April, 2020, was lower than what was sold last year, by about 10 lakh tons, bringing us back to same levels as last year.
The sugar mills have reportedly seen an increase in sugar offtake in the last one week or so of April 2020. Further, it is generally expected that sugar demand will increase as soon as the lockdown is withdrawn, especially because of demand from the traders to refill the pipeline, which is almost dry, and also because of the consumption increase coming up due to summer demand for beverages, ice creams, juices etc.
