Achieving 6 mn tonne sugar export target challenging amid subdued global prices: ICRA

Rating agency ICRA on Monday said it will be challenging to achieve six million tonne of sugar exports in 2019-20 marketing year starting October. "The government announced a Rs 6,268-crore sugar export subsidy scheme on August 28, 2019, which is expected to help the country achieve 6 million tonne of sugar exports.

"ICRA believes achieving this volume of exports will be challenging, given the subdued global sugar prices, but even a part achievement of this target is likely to relieve some pressure from the domestic stocks, support domestic sugar prices and facilitate timely cane payments to farmers," the agency said in a statement. India is facing a glut situation in sugar owing to record production during the current 2018-19 and the previous year.

In the current year, sugar output is estimated at around 33 million tonne as against the 32.3 million tonne in 2017-18. The annual domestic consumption is estimated at 26 million tonne. Industry estimates the opening stock of sugar as on October 1, 2019 at 14.2 million tonne.