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Prices of sugar fell in the key wholesale market of Delhi as demand faded at higher price levels as as supply was disrupted by religious processions on some routes connecting western Uttar Pradesh to the national capital. Medium-grade sugar was sold in Delhi, down 60 rupees from previous close. Prices of sugar in the key spot market of Mumbai, however, were stable at amid thin trade.

Shares of sugar companies were on a high, rallying between 2 per cent and 10 per cent on Thursday after sugar prices on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) got locked in an upper circuit. Centre looks to fix sugar problem in Uttar Pradesh, orders Yogi government to implement Rangarajan formula. After fulminating against errant sugar mills for not paying farmers their dues, the UP government may finally address the real problem of forcing sugar mills to pay too much money to sugarcane farmers. All states, and UP is the guiltiest, fixed a State Administered Price (SAP) that was higher than the FRP, and that was the genesis of increasing farmer arrears. While the UPA had come out with the Rangarajan formula on revenue-sharing between the mills and farmers, states like Maharashtra and Karnataka accepted this, but UP did not. As FE pointed out, over the past five years, UP’s sugarmills paid around Rs 19,000 crore extra to the farmers as compared to a situation where the Rangarajan formula had been adopted. In the season beginning October 2017, the FRP is Rs 255 and the SAP Rs 305—given the current recovery levels of 10.61%, the gap is a much lower Rs 20 per quintal. So, if Yogi Adityanath is able to make the transition quickly, farmers will adapt to the new model—if the sugar cycle changes, as it does from time to time, the sugar mills will not be forced to pay out extra and this will not, once again, lead to the old arrears-agitation-crackdown cycles.

Deficient monsoon rain so far has threatened recovery in sugar production this season, the second year in a row, pushing sugar prices to a three-month high in the past few weeks. 14 states and Union Territories with a huge sugar consumption base are currently facing supply shortage due to low output last year. Despite growing consumption, a number of these states do not produce sugar at all. The government has asked Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) to ensure that Mills do not increase prices as market prices were quoted at three-month highs.

The decision was taken to allow the export under certain conditions to avoid the escalation of prices of sugar in the domestic market. The export of 0.3 million tonnes of sugar in addition to the quantities already allowed for export by the ECC. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), in May 2017 had informed the government that the sugar industry had produced record quantity of sugar leading to a surplus of 1.475 million metric tonnes which was resulting in the delayed payment to the sugarcane growers. The mill owners are unable to pay the due amount because of the financial crunch faced by the industry and its poor liquidity position. There is a strong need to overview the sugar stock situation and accordingly enhance the export quota. This facilitate the mills to pay farmers outstanding dues and commence the 2017-18 crushing season on time.

China sugar imports plunged in June, after Beijing imposed hefty tariffs on foreign arrivals in late May and slashed imports permits. China bought 140,000 tonnes of raw sugar in June, down 62 percent year on year, and down 25 percent from last month 186,765 tonnes. China has halved the permits for out-of-quota sugar import from last year to around 1 million tonnes. Beijing imposed extra tariffs on out-of-quota imports of the sweetener for the next three years in a ruling in May, following years of lobbying by domestic sugar farmers and crushers. Imports in the first half of this year went up 5.9 percent to 1.41 million tonnes, as lower global prices attracted buyers.