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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026

NEW DELHI - Ex-mill sugar prices have corrected from their record highs across key markets in recent days, and retail sugar rates are set to follow the same trend in a week or so, according to sugar industry bodies. Ex-mill prices have fallen nearly 30% from their peak, while retail prices have fallen only 5% from record highs, they added.

 

Barring Uttar Pradesh and a few other northern markets, ex-mill sugar rates have fallen below INR 5,000 per 100 kilograms in most markets. "Through our coordinated efforts with the Government of India, the sugar ecosystem has successfully stabilised supplies...and firmly dismantled unwarranted scarcity narratives across the domestic trade," Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association and National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories said in a joint press release. 

 

Wednesday, ex-mill sugar rates in Maharashtra markets fell to INR 4,500-INR 4,700 per 100 kilograms from the record highs of INR 6,400 in late August. However, the average retail prices are around INR 62 per kg, down from INR 65 per kg. "The gap currently seen between ex-mill sugar prices and retail prices is too large," ISMA Director General Deepak Ballani said. "Ideally, retail prices should be only around INR 6-INR 7 more than ex-mill prices. If ex-mill prices are around INR 45 today, ideally, the retail prices should be around INR 51-INR 52," he added. Ballani said retail prices should correct further in seven to 10 days. 

 

Though ex-mill sugar prices have been rising since July, they rose steeply in August amid increased speculation that sugar stocks are limited and could tighten further in the coming months. This prompted panic buying ahead of the festival season. However, industry bodies said the steep surge seen in the third week of August was an "isolated event" and only a "fractional volume" of 200,000-300,000 tonnes was bought at these record-high prices, Indian Sugar Mills Association officials said, quoting available goods and service tax data. 

 

"This in no way reflected season-wide economics or windfall gains," industry bodies said. "The pan-India season average ex-mill prices hovering around INR 39.5–INR 40.0 per kg in June, INR 40.0–INR 40.5 per kg in July, and roughly INR 41.0-INR 41.5 per kg through August 2026--still trailing the industry's average production cost of approximately INR 42 per kg," according to the press release. 

 

Industry bodies assured that the country has a healthy sugar stock for the festival period, and the closing stock is projected to be 3.5 million tonnes at the end of September. To further augment supplies, the government has allowed 1 million tonnes of duty-free raw sugar imports and has asked sugar mills to advance their crushing operations for next season by 15 days to mid-October. 

 

Early October output, the precautionary 1-million-tonne duty-free raw sugar import allowance, and an additional 300,000-350,000 tonnes of supplies from refiners expected by mid-October, ensures that the physical sugar availability is more than enough to preserve a generous inventory cushion, the release said.  End

 

Reported by Afra Abubacker

Edited by Shubhayan Bhattacharya

 

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