Sugar Lobby Lowers Output Estimates For Ongoing Season

The Indian Sugar Mills Association lowered its production estimates for the ongoing sugar season as flooding damaged crops in key growing regions that earlier escaped a drought.

“Because of extra rainfall and floods in certain parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, along with the drought last year, the planting was less in these states,” said Director General Abinash Verma. “ISMA has already lowered its estimation for 2019-20 sugar season,” he told BloombergQuint.

Cane farmers in India—one of the world's biggest sugar producers—have been rocked by the weather this year. First, the annual monsoon arrived late, and as rainfall increased, flooding hurt crops in areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka—the second and third-biggest growing regions. Also, rain in Uttar Pradesh, the top producer, was almost 10 percent below normal.

Sugar production till Nov. 30, 2019 in the current 2019-20 sugar season is 18.85 lakh tonnes, which was 40.69 lakh tonnes last year on Nov. 30, 2018, ISMA had said in a statement. Only 279 sugar mills were operating as on Nov. 30 this year compared to 418 factories crushing sugarcane a year ago, it said.

“We have already accounted for lower yields and lower recoveries in Maharashtra and Karnataka because of lower water availability in the last 12 months, as well as because of floods in certain parts of these two states,” Verma said.

Watch | ISMA's Abinash Verma on lowering output estimates for the ongoing sugar season...