Honouring contracts: Cos seek to export 150,000 tonnes sugar

New Delhi: The sugar industry has requested the government to allow exports of an additional 150,000 tonnes to honour execution of already-concluded export contracts following a recent ban on overseas sugar shipments.

India last week abruptly banned sugar exports until September 30, after allowing 150,000 tonnes for shipments in two tranches.

The sudden restriction poses practical challenges for mills with binding commitments to international buyers and executing these contracts could sustain trade credibility and ensure orderly settlements in global markets, said a representative of the Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association.


The association wrote to the government last week highlighting the issue.

Also Read: Sugar export ban to free up 4-5 lakh tonne for domestic use

The government announced the export ban amid rising concerns of El Nino, which is known to trigger deficient rains in India, and its potential impact on farm output. The move is expected to help release more sugar for domestic consumption and increase the buffer stock for the next year, helping ease domestic availability in case sugar production of 2026-27 gets adversely affected by El Nino.

According to industry observers, the government imposed the ban because sugar prices had already started increasing as production for the 2025-26 season (October-September) fell much short of original estimates.

Sugar production was 27.53 million tonnes as of April 30.