India sugar prices drop

Saturday, November 21, 2009
MUMBAI: Indian spot sugar prices fell on Friday as crushing accelerated in Maharashtra, the country’s top sugar producing state, dealers said. In Kolhapur, a key market in the state, the price of the most traded S-variety sugar fell 0.64 percent to 3,385.65 rupees per 100 kg. The price has risen about 84 per cent in 2009. Sugar mills in India’s top producing state have accelerated cane crushing after last week’s unseasonal rains and so far the state has produced higher quantity of the sweetner than last year, a government official said. “Rains had disrupted crushing last week for almost four days, but now fields are dry and crushing is going on in full momentum,” Rajendra Chavan, sugar commissioner of western Maharastra state, told Reuters in an interview on Friday. As on Nov 15, 114 sugar mills in the state have begun operations and produced 366,200 tonnes of sugar compared to 325,000 tonnes produced by 97 sugar mills in the year-ago period.