Close up a sugar cubes on wooden spoon on the table
| Photo Credit:
towfiqu ahamed
Retail sugar prices have begun to ease, while mill-gate prices continued to decline following various measures taken by the Indian government. Mill gate prices have dropped about 25 per cent in the past week after surging over ₹6,700 a quintal.
According to data from the Price Monitoring Division of the Department of Consumer Affairs, retail prices of the commodity declined to ₹64.33 a kg from ₹65.07 on Wednesday. Despite the drop, prices in almost all cities continued to rule between ₹60 (Mumbai) and ₹64 (Chennai) a kg.
Wholesale prices of sugar dropped by ₹50-300 a quintal, with Kolkata and Hyderabad witnessing the maximum fall. Mills tender rates were around ₹5,000, while Sonhira Sugars offered 1,400 tonnes at ₹4,900.
Resale sugar, which traders or agents previously purchased from factories through tenders, was quoted at ₹5,040-5,100 a quintal for S-30 grade.
“Sugar prices have cooled considerably. It’s trading below ₹5,200-5,400 per quintal (ex-mill) at several places, which will start reflecting in the retail market shortly. I feel the worst is behind us. We can celebrate the festival with enough sugar at a reasonable price,” said Uppal Shah, Chairman & Managing Director, JK India eAgriTech Ltd.
Sugar prices rallied in the past couple of months due to tight supplies and weather concerns. The prices breached ₹6,700-7,000 (ex-mill) at several places. This was concerning considering that the festival seasons are around the corner, he said.
“The government acted and implemented a couple of measures essentially to free any held up stocks with bulk consumers, dealers etc. Duty free imports have also been allowed into the country,” said Shah
As per sources, 4-5 sugar shipments carrying about 2 lakh tonnes of sugar have already started from exporting countries’ ports. They are supposed land by mid September, he said.
“Once refined, the white sugar will flush the pipelines. Raids are also taking place. I believe these measures have already freed some sugar and brought it to the mainstream,” said the JK India eAgriTech CME, adding that about 3 lakh tonnes of sugar will be supplied in the domestic market in September by refineries. This should further ease availability ahead of the festival season.
Sugar prices have declined mainly on the government’s move to allow duty-free import of 1 million tonnes of raw sugar last week. Apart from ths, the government has taken various measures, including carrying out inspection on traders’ premises in different States to check hoarding, monitoring physical stocks with mills and cutting the stock limit for bulk buyers (who purchase over 10 tonnes a month) to 15 days of their requirements, to check the price rise.
Global sugar prices, however, edged higher. October raw sugar futures on InterContinental Exchange, New York, rose to 17.580 cents a pound, while spot prices increased to 17.62 cents. In London, white sugar slid to $517 a tonne.
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