Sugar mills have entered into contracts to export 55 lakh tonne of sweetener so far in current marketing year ending September and out of that, 18 lakh tonne have been shipped already, according to industry body ISMA.

The government has allowed sugar mills to export 60 lakh tonne of sugar till May in the 2022-23 marketing year (October-September).

In the previous marketing year, the mills had exported around 112 lakh tonne, an all-time high.

In a statement, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said sugar production till January 15, 2023 in the current marketing year is 156.8 lakh tonne as against 150.8 lakh tonne in the corresponding period of the previous year.

"As per port information and market reports, about 55 lakh tonne of contracts for export of sugar have already been entered into so far," ISMA said.

Out of that, over 18 lakh tonne of sugar have been physically exported out of the country up to December 31, 2022.

This is almost similar to the sugar exported by the end of December 2021, the association added.