Oct-March sugar output dips 4%; 1.15 mt exported

India's sugar production fell by 4 per cent to 23.7 million tonne (mt) in the first six months of the current marketing year ending September due to lower cane availability. The country exported 1.15 mt during the October-March period and another 3,00,000 tonnes is expected to be shipped in next couple of months, sugar industry body ISMA said.

Based on the estimates of production, consumption and exports, ISMA has pegged the closing stock of sugar in September this year at around 7.5 mt. "The All India sugar production up to 31st March 2016 is 23.7 mt. This is about 1.1 mt less than last year, which was expected, since the estimated sugar production in the current season is lower than last year," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement.

Sugar production of India, the world's second largest producer after Brazil, is estimated to decline to about 26 mt in 2015-16 marketing year (October-September) as against 28.3 mt in the previous year.