Sugar mills produced 321.2 lakh tonnes of sugar (lt) till April 30, nearly 3 per cent more than the 311.83 lt produced during the corresponding period last year, the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Friday.

Production of the sweetener is 14 lt more than what was previously estimated for the entire season and may go up further to 330 lt as many mills in Uttar Pradesh and other States are still crushing sugarcane, ISMA said.

The trade body said sugar stocks at the end of the 2018-19 marketing year would be at a higher level of around 147 lt taking into account the openthis ing balance of 107 lt as on October 1, 2018, and estimated a record output of 330 lt. Domestic demand and exports are pegged at 260 lt and 30 lt, respectively.

Better recovery in North

“The sugar recovery in Northern India has been substantially better than the recovery achieved in the last season. In other parts of the country, including Maharashtra and Karnataka, the sugar recovery is better than last year, though not as high as achieved in the North,” it said.

Even though the quantum of sugarcane available for crushing this season was less than that in the previous season, higher recovery would result in higher production year. While Maharashtra produced 107 lt of sugar till April 30, the mills in Uttar Pradesh accounted for 112.65 lt and 68 UP mills are still crushing, it said.

According to ISMA, field reports from Maharashtra indicate that sugarcane planting is significantly lower than the harvest in the current season.

At an all-India level, there is a general expectation that sugarcane availability will be much lower in 2019-20 than in the current season, thereby reducing sugar production next year.

Further, with expansion and addition of ethanol production capacity at a rapid pace, the sugar industry will divert larger quantities of ‘B’ heavy molasses/sugarcane juice, away from sugar. That will further reduce the sugar output next season.