India may end 25/26 producing even less sugar than expected

● The India’s 25/26 crop is at its final stage, with only 74 mills operating on Mar 31st, out of 541 units, versus 113 plants operating a year ago.

● During 2H March, India produced only 945 k mt of sugar, down 16.7% YoY, the lowest volume produced in this period in the last 9 years.

● On a cumulative basis, sugar production still totaled 27.12 mmt until Mar 31st, up 9.1% YoY.

● However, even considering the off-season crushing in Tamil Nadu in June, India may end the 25/26 producing less than 29 mmt of sugar, which is similar to the domestic consumption.

● India has found few homes for its 2-mmt sugar export quota: around 610 k mt of sugar has been shipped so far this season.

● The Indian Rupee has depreciated severely against the Dollar. On Friday, the Rupee touched a new low of INR 94.91/USD.

● Still, there are no reports of new contracts being signed for exports, as prices in the domestic market have begun to react.