SPOTLIGHT
Increased quota unlikely to sweeten deal for sugar exporters
This story was originally published at 23:18 IST on 13 February 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026
By Afra Abubacker
NEW DELHI – The government's approval for an additional sugar exports is unlikely to meaningfully increase shipment as firm domestic prices, weak global prices, and a tight export window till the end of June are likely to limit mills' appetite for overseas sales, market participants said.
Earlier in the day, the Centre allowed export of an additional 500,000 tonnes of sugar, over and above the earlier 1.5 million tonnes quota in 2025-26 (Oct-Sept). Though the additional quota will only be distributed to willing mills on a pro-rata basis, mills must ship at least 70% of the assigned quota by Jun. 30, or bear penalties. Under the previous quota, mills can ship sugar till Sept. 30.
A senior government official said the timelines and conditions were aimed at accelerating shipments over the next four months till June. "And there is one clear condition: if they export 70% of their quota by June end, then they can export the remaining quantity till September," he added.
However, given the weak export parity for Indian sugar, industry experts said sugar exports are unlikely to pick up meaningfully in the coming months. However, they welcomed the government's move to facilitate higher exports. "The government's job is to enable policy. They need not get into feasibility or parity," said G.K. Sood, chairman, MEIR Commodities. He added that if global sugar prices improve later, the industry would argue over the missed opportunity.
"It's a good and welcome decision, but with world values tanking, we do not expect exports to pick up. In any case, more than 1.3 million tonnes are still pending to be exported. The decision is good for optics and reflects a proactive approach from the government," Shree Renuka Sugars Executive Chairman Atul Chaturvedi said.
In addition, the government is aiming to ensure a bulk of sugar exports are executed ahead of the festival season. "Festival season kicks in around Jul-Aug, and decision makers would not like to face criticism of fuelling inflationary pressures in the festive period," Chaturvedi said.
Indian sugar is currently quoted at around $470-$480 per tonne, while benchmark London prices are around $400 per tonne, said Shashi Pandhare, commodity trader, Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office. Export parity will only emerge if prices fall to $420-$430 per tonne, he added.
"There is no parity, so no one is excited about the additional export quota. Even the global sugar market did not react to India's additional export quota," he said. At the time of writing, futures contracts of white sugar on the Intercontinental Exchange were trading down over 1% at $400.9 per tonne.
Domestic markets also continued trade as usual in most markets, including Maharashtra, but fell slightly in Uttar Pradesh. According to trade, sugar prices have recently firmed up and are hovering at relatively higher levels around INR 3,820-INR 4,065 per 100 kg.
According to Pandhare, mills have contracted about 350,000 tonnes with export houses so far and over 200,000 tonnes of sugar have been actually shipped out. This is only 13% of the earlier 1.5 million tonnes quota.
Nevertheless, the industry welcomed the increased opportunity to offload surplus sugar likely to be available in the domestic market. For the entire 2025-26 season ending September, industry bodies have estimated sugar production to rise to over 29.6-30.9 million tonnes, significantly up from 26.2 million tonnes last year. End
US$1 = INR 90.63
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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