Sugar mills face sugarcane crisis, crushing season may end prematurely
The Indian sugarcane industry faces a dual crisis: red rot disease in North India and unseasonal rains in the South, reducing both production and productivity. With 17 mills yet to start operations, crushing may end early, worsening the sugarcane shortage. Production is expected to drop by 49 lakh tons, triggering price competition among mills for limited supplies.
The sugarcane industry is going through a two-way crisis. Due to red rot in the states of North India and unseasonal rains in the southern states, a huge decline in sugarcane production is being seen. Productivity is also badly affected. This is directly affecting the sugar mills. The crushing season which runs from November to April may end in mid-March itself.
According to the National Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation (NFCSF), only 507 sugar mills are operational in the country right now, whereas last year 524 mills were operational. That is, 17 mills are still waiting to be operational. Most of the sugar mills are closed in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The condition of sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is also not good.
There is already a shortage of sugarcane for crushing. It is feared that many running mills may have to be closed in March itself. In such a situation, there is an estimate of a decrease of 49 lakh tons in sugar production in the current season. Last year 319 lakh tons of sugar was produced. This time only 270 lakh tons are estimated. The biggest sugar-producing states are Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where production has come down due to top shoot borer and red rot disease.
In comparison to the same period last year, about one million tons of sugarcane has not yet reached the sugar mills in Maharashtra. Although eight lakh tons more sugarcane has been crushed in Uttar Pradesh so far, there is a danger of a shortage of sugarcane soon because this time sugarcane started reaching the mills earlier due to floods in North India and then due to insufficient cold.
Currently, due to the scarcity of sugarcane, many mills have to shut down for several hours. This scenario has its advantages as farmers can expect to get favorable minimum support prices at the end of the crushing season. There could be price competition amongst the mills to get more and more sugarcane. Mills located in Uttar Pradesh has already begun importing sugarcane from the nearby states viscous Uttarakhand and Bihar at raised prices.
Even the situation is not that great in other states. There are chances of the productivity rate dropping by as much as 20%. In Maharashtra and rester, the sugarcane crop is not sufficiently matured. It has started to flower the ‘early-mature’ stage too soon. Under these circumstances the quantity of sucrose and weight of sugarcane reduces.
This is the reason that the mills that are operational in Maharashtra are also facing a shortage of sugarcane. The same situation is in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. According to NFCSF, Tamil Nadu is expected to reach only 8.50 lakh tonnes for the current season, which is less than 10.75 lakh tonnes compared to the last season.
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Source : Sangri Today
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