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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

 

MUMBAI – The Centre has allocated an additional export quota of 87,587 tonnes of sugar for the 2025-26 (Oct-Sept) season, the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution said late Monday. All grades of the sweetener can be exported by sugar mills, refineries, and exporters up to the extent allocated to them, it said.

 

The government had originally allowed export of 1.5 million tonnes of sugar for the season. In February, it announced an extra quota of 500,000 tonnes for mills willing to export under fixed allocations. However, out of the extra quota, mills applied for only 87,587 tonnes as prices were uncompetitive, and the remaining quantity lapsed.

 

The government said that those mills that export 70% of their allocated quantity by Jun. 30, will be allowed to export the remaining quantity by Sept. 30. However, if any mill fails to export 70% of the allocated quantity by Jun. 30, then the unsold quantity would lapse, according to the notification.

 

Indian sugar is overvalued by $37 per tonne in export markets, despite being of lower quality than that quoted on the ICE futures Europe. The benchmark global white sugar contract of 45 ICMUSA colour is traded on the ICE futures Europe, whereas Indian sugar is mostly of 80 to 150 ICUMSA colour, according to market participants. ICUMSA stands for International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis.

 

The quota cannot be transferred between mills, and those who miss the 70% mark will face cuts in future allocations equal to their shortfall, according to the government notification. The supply of sugar by mills to refineries in special economic zone up to the extent of export quota as per the order will be considered as export, it said.

 

According to the All India Sugar Trade Association, domestic mills have dispatched 315,577 tonnes of sugar for exports as of Feb. 28. Out of the total quantity dispatched by mills and merchant exporters, 313,255 tonnes have been exported and 2,322 tonnes are waiting to be loaded, the trade body said.

 

Indian sugar was exported to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Bhutan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Kenya, Somalia, Nepal, Singapore and a few other countries, the trade body said. The United Arab Emirates was the top importer of Indian sugar at 79,683 tonnes, followed by Afghanistan, Djibouti and Tanzania, it said.  End

 

Reported by Taniva Singha Roy

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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