309.87 lac tons of sugar have been produced till March 31: ISMA

6 Apr 2022 , 12:21 PM

According to the data released by ISMA said that during 2021-22 SS, 518 sugar mills started their crushing operations as against 505 mills that operated last year i.e., 13 more mills operated this year. 309.87 lac tons of sugar have been produced till 31st March 2022 as against 278.71 lac tons produced last year by 31st March 2021 i.e. higher by 31.16 lac tons.

On the ethanol front, against the total LOI quantity of 416.33 crore ltrs, 131.69 Cr ltrs of ethanol have been supplied as of 27thMarch’ 2022. The contracted quantity as of date is of 402.66 Cr. ltrs as against LOIs of about 416 crore ltrs issued by OMCs. The Country on an average has achieved a blending percentage of 9.60% till the end of March since December, 2021.

As per reports from the trade, over 72 lac tons of sugar export have been contracted so far. Out of that, physical exports by the end of March, 2022 are expected to be around 56 – 57 lac tons. News from the international trade houses indicate that global market is expecting 85 lac tons of sugar exports from India, in the current season.

As on 31st March 2022, 152 mills have stopped crushing and 366 sugar mills in the country were still crushing. As compared to that, 284 mills had stopped operations last year as on 31st March 2021 and 221 mills were operating then.

In Maharashtra, sugar production till 31st March’ 2022 was 118.81 lac tons, compared with 100.47 lac tons produced last year same period. In the current 2021-22 SS, 30 mills have closed their crushing operations in the State, most of them in Kolhapur region and a few in Solapur region, and remaining 167 sugar mills are still operating. Mills therein have so far crushed about 1143 lac tons of sugarcane, which is highest ever in the history of the State surpassing about 1014 lac tons cane crushed in the complete 2020-21 season. On the corresponding date in last season, 114 mills had closed their operations while 76 mills were in operation, ISMA added.

In U.P., 120 sugar mills which were in operation, have produced 87.50 lac tons of sugar till 31st March 2022. Out of 120 sugar mills, 32 sugar mills have stopped crushing operations, most of them located in Eastern U.P. Similar number of mills operated last year in the State and had produced 93.71 lac tons as on 31st March 2021. 39 mills had closed their crushing operations on the corresponding date last year.