Chennai, June 2:  

Sugar industry in Tamil Nadu continues to see a dip in production due to dry weather and low recovery.

Going by sugarcane planting data, the dip is likely to sustain in the coming 2014-15 (October-September) season, with sugar production likely to hit a low of about one-third of the installed production capacity.

This will make it three years in a row that the output in Tamil Nadu has dropped. In contrast, the country’s sugar output is seen adequate.

Drop in production

The concern, according to sugar mill representatives, is that the drop in State’s production against overall growth in major producing areas such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, will mean sugar prices will continue to rule low on ample supply even as volumes drop. According to industry estimates, as of April, sugar mills in the State crushed about 121 lakh tonnes of sugarcane for the 2013-14 season, with an estimated sugar recovery of 8.97 per cent against last year’s 167 lakh tonnes when recovery was higher at 9.17 per cent.

Sugar production is down by about 37 per cent at 9.66 lakh tonnes as of April against 15.32 lakh tonnes in the previous season.

Sugarcane planting is also lagging. As of April, sugarcane acreage for the coming crushing season, is estimated at about 3.25 lakh acres against 4.28 lakh acres last season.

In the current season, sugar output in Tamil Nadu could be around 13.5 lakh tonnes, with the coming season seeing a further drop to about 11 lakh tonnes. This is about one-third of the established milling capacity in the State.