India today made its first pitch to export 1.5 million tonnes of sugar to China in a bid to reduce surplus, weeks after an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan.
About 50 officials from 25 Chinese sugar companies interacted with top officials of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) to discuss the possibility of importing 1-1.5 mt of Indian sugar, valued $350 million. India has 7 mt of surplus this year and with forecast of good rains the surplus stocks were expected to pileup further next year, Gaurav Goel, President of ISMA, told the media after the talks.
India so far has exported sugar to East Africa and Sri Lanka. China imports about 4.5 mt mostly from Brazil, Thailand and Cuba, Abinash Verma MD, CEO of Indian Sugar Exim Corporation said.
India had exported about two lakh tonnes in 2007 to China, he said.
It is also targetting Bangladesh to cut losses due to surplus sugar stocks, he said.
Prime Minister Modi had urged Xi to import Indian sugar, rice and pharmaceuticals, official sources here said. Modi was expected to have follow up discussions during his visit to Chinese city Qingdao to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held on June 9 and 10, Verma said.
Speaking at the meeting, organised by the Indian Embassy, Counsellor Economic of Indian Embassy, Prashant Lokhande assured Chinese firms that India would emerge as a major sugar trading partner for China with consistent policies and quality product.
ISMA officials said India hopes to export sugars under the 50 per cent tariff category, though details are yet to be worked out. China charges 80 per cent tariffs on sugar imports. The response from the Chinese officials for India’s offer of exports is extremely positive, Goel said.
An invitation has been extended for the Chinese officials to visit Indian mills which have the most modern facilities. officials from China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, (CCPIT), China Sugar Association (CSA) and COFCO attended the meeting.
Earlier, India has made strong bid to export soybean and rice to China to address the trade imbalance between the two countries which now amounted to $51 billion in over $80 billion trade last year.