August 2, 2023
ChiniMandi | https://www.chinimandi.com/ismas-preliminary-estimates-of-sugar-producti...
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), based on the satellite images procured in the latter part of June 2023, the total acreage under sugarcane in the country is estimated to be around 59.81 lakh hectares in 2023-24 Sugar Season (SS), which is almost at the similar level as that for the 2022-23 sugar season.
This was discussed in the meeting of ISMA on 1st August,2023, wherein representatives from sugar producing States from across the country were present. The images of the cane area, field reports regarding expected yield, sugar recovery, drawal percentage, impact of previous and current year’s rainfall, water availability in reservoirs, expected rainfall during SW monsoon 2023 and other related aspects were discussed in detail during the meeting and accordingly preliminary estimates for 2023-24 SS are being released.
As may be seen from the above table, sugar production for 2023-24 SS is estimated at around 362 lakh tonnes, against 369 lakh tonnes estimated for 2022-23.
It is estimated that about 45 lakh tonnes of sugar will be diverted towards production of ethanol next season, as compared to about 41 lakh tonnes estimated to be diverted this year.
Therefore, after accounting for about 45 lakh tonnes of sugar diversion towards ethanol production, ISMA estimates sugar production in 2023-24 at around 317 lakh tonnes of sugar and consumption would be around 275 lakh tonnes leaving a surplus of about 42 lakh tonnes
The above estimate is made assuming normal rainfall and other optimum conditions during the remaining period.