INDIA: Maha 2012/13 sugar production seen down 30%
Published: 08/30/2012, 9:37:08 AM
Sugar output in Maharashtra state in the next marketing year will likely fall by around 30% from a year earlier, as low rainfall has affected the sugarcane growth, according to Dow Jones.
Production in Maharashtra--the country's largest sugar-producing state, accounting for a third of total output--is forecast at 6.3 million metric tonnes in the year that will start Oct. 1, down from 9 million tonnes in 2011/12, Vijay Singhal, the western Indian state's sugar commissioner, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"We will observe the rainfall situation for the next two-three weeks, and if the rainfall improves, production may rise," he said.
Industry executives estimate sugar production in India, the world's second-largest producer of the sweetener, may fall to 24 million-25 million tonnes in 2012/13 from about 26 million tonnes this year.