Sugar stocks turn sweet as import duty raised to 15%

MUMBAI: Sugar stocks rose by as much as 7.4 per cent on heavy buying after government today hiked import duty on sugar to 15 per cent from 10 per cent to help the industry clear Rs 9,000 crore cane arrears to farmers.

Cheering the news, shares of Dwarikesh Sugar Industries zoomed up by 7.39 per cent, Sakthi Sugars shot up by 4.97 per cent, Balrampur Chini Mills by 4.59 per cent and Dhampur Sugar by 3.74 per cent on the BSE.

Among others, Bajaj Hindusthan rose by 2.68 per cent, Triveni Engineering & Industries (1.64 per cent), Shree Renuka Sugars (1.17 per cent) and EID Parry India Ltd (1.43 per cent).

Experts said that sugar stocks rose following the import duty hike news. This led to buying in sugar counters as the move will boost domestic sales and aid profitability, they said.

In a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC), the duty on both raw and white (refined) sugar have been raised to 15 per cent.

Sugar imports have been putting pressure on domestic prices and have prevented millers from clearing cane arrears to farmers.

The hike in duty is aimed at curbing import of sugar and improving the bearish sentiment in domestic market. This would, however, lead to rise in sugar prices across the country.