Indian sugar production decline by 35% to 4.58 MT till December 15

19 Dec 2019 Evaluate

India's sugar production has declined by 35% to 4.58 million tonne (MT) in the ongoing sugar season (October-September) till December 15, 2019, as against 7.05 MT of corresponding period previous year. Sharp fall in production from major cultivating regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka has contributed this dip. The mills in these states started late by one month and one week, respectively.

Maharashtra, the country's second largest sugar producer delivered only 7,66,000 tonne as against 2.9 MT in the same period a year ago. The delayed sugarcane crushing in Maharashtra owing to the inundated fields in major cane growing areas following heavy rainfall and floods, apart from state elections, is major cause for this steep decline. The crushing gained momentum only by the fourth week of November this year. Similarly in Karnataka, the third largest sugar producing state, the production was 1.06 MT till December 15, 2019 as against 1.39 MT of corresponding period last year. Sugar output from Uttar Pradesh was 2.13 MT till December 15, 2019 as against 1.9 MT in the corresponding period last year.

As per estimates, total sugar output is likely to mark dip of 21.5% to 26 MT in the 2019-20 marketing year. As per reports, domestic sugar mills had so far contracted for exports worth 2 MT for the current season. The major offshore destinations for Indian sugar are Iran, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, African countries etc. On ethanol supply to oil marketing companies (OMCs), sugar mills and standalone distilleries have offered to supply 163 crore litres of ethanol in the year starting December 2019. Of the total ethanol, 10.38 crore litres will be made from sugarcane juice, 62.58 crore litres from ‘B’ heavy molasses, 86.39 crore litres from ‘C’ heavy molasses and 3.78 crore litres from damaged food grains. However, the negative impact on sugar production owing to ethanol diversion during the entire season will be limited to nearly 850,000 tonnes.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×