India sugar prices hit 18-month low, mills struggle to make cane payments | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
June 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025
India sugar prices hit 18-month low, mills struggle to make cane payments

South Asia

Reuters
05 December, 2024, 07:15 pm
Last modified: 05 December, 2024, 07:17 pm

Related News

  • 'Goodbye…': British passenger's last Instagram post before boarding Air India flight that crashed
  • In Photos: The fatal Air India crash and the aftermath
  • From Ahmedabad’s crash site, stories of horror, panic and a narrow escape
  • Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades
  • All flights suspended at Ahmedabad Airport following Air India crash

India sugar prices hit 18-month low, mills struggle to make cane payments

The fall in prices is prompting industry to demand immediate revision in minimum selling price (MSP) to limit losses, which will improve mills' margins and allow them to make timely cane payments to millions of cane growers

Reuters
05 December, 2024, 07:15 pm
Last modified: 05 December, 2024, 07:17 pm
Farmers sit on a heap of sugarcanes loaded on a tractor outside of a sugar mill at Morinda in the northern Indian state of Punjab December 4, 2011. REUTERS/Ajay Verma/File Photo
Farmers sit on a heap of sugarcanes loaded on a tractor outside of a sugar mill at Morinda in the northern Indian state of Punjab December 4, 2011. REUTERS/Ajay Verma/File Photo

Sugar prices in India fell to their lowest level in 1-1/2 year due to ample supplies, making it difficult for mills to pay farmers the cane price as the crushing season gains momentum, industry officials told Reuters.

The fall in prices is prompting industry to demand immediate revision in minimum selling price (MSP) to limit losses, which will improve mills' margins and allow them to make timely cane payments to millions of cane growers.

"Sugar prices have fallen below the cost of production. This makes it difficult for mills to pay the revised cane price unless sugar prices rise," said B.B. Thombare, president of the West Indian Sugar Mills Association.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Wholesale sugar prices at Kolhapur in western state of Maharashtra have fallen nearly 8% in past four months to 33,675 rupees ($397.60) per ton, the lowest since June 2023.

The government should quickly raise the MSP above 40,000 rupees per ton to make cane crushing viable for sugar mills, Thombare said.

Indian trade bodies have been demanding an increase in the MSP, saying the government has raised the mandatory procurement price of sugarcane in recent years while the MSP has remained unchanged since 2019.

Sugar prices are falling as demand has decreased after the festival season, and new season supplies have begun, said Ashok Jain, president of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association.

Indian mills have produced 2.79 million metric tons of sugar since the current season began on Oct. 1, down 35.4% year on year, a leading industry body said on Monday.

Mills in Maharashtra, which recently underwent state elections, sold more sugar than allocated, as mills controlled by politicians needed funds for election campaigns, said a Mumbai-based trader.

"The market was flooded with sugar in the past two months. This is why mills are now struggling to sell sugar, even at lower prices," the trader said.

Global Economy

India / Sugar / Mills

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India plane crash: Not all dead, one survivor identified, 204 bodies recovered
  • CA informs King Charles of Bangladesh's reform initiatives
    CA informs King Charles of Bangladesh's reform initiatives
  • News of The Day, 12 JUNE 2025
    News of The Day, 12 JUNE 2025

MOST VIEWED

  • Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
    Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India plane crash: Not all dead, one survivor identified, 204 bodies recovered
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Infofgraphics: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh considering settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: Mansur tells FT

Related News

  • 'Goodbye…': British passenger's last Instagram post before boarding Air India flight that crashed
  • In Photos: The fatal Air India crash and the aftermath
  • From Ahmedabad’s crash site, stories of horror, panic and a narrow escape
  • Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades
  • All flights suspended at Ahmedabad Airport following Air India crash

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

3d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

1h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

3h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

3h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

4h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net