India sugar exports reach 180,000 tons as prices ease, rupee weakens
ndian sugar mills resume limited exports as domestic prices cool, offering brief relief to global markets amid rising supply.
INDIA – Indian sugar mills have signed export contracts for about 180,000 metric tons of sugar in the current season, as a correction in domestic prices and a weaker rupee have begun to revive overseas sales, according to trade and industry officials cited by Reuters.
India’s federal government approved exports of 1.5 million tons of sugar for the 2025/26 season, which began on October 1. However, elevated local prices earlier in the season slowed export activity, limiting shipments from the world’s second-largest sugar producer and offering some support to global prices hovering near five-year lows.
Five dealers told Reuters that mills have so far contracted shipments mainly to Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and several East African countries.
“Mills used to get better prices from exports than from the domestic market. This time, there’s no real incentive to export,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house. “Still, some mills are stepping forward because they need cash to pay farmers for cane.”
Domestic prices had remained well above global benchmarks for much of the season. Over the past three months, prices have eased by around six percent to 36,125 rupees, or about US$401 per ton, as fresh supplies from the new crushing season entered the market. Sugar output between October and December rose 25 percent year on year to 11.9 million tons.
Indian sugar is currently being offered at roughly US$450 per ton on a free-on-board basis, around US$20 per ton above benchmark London futures, traders said.
“Supply pressure has brought down local prices. Exports are not profitable at current price levels, but they are no longer loss-making as they were last month,” said B.B. Thombare, president of the West Indian Sugar Mills Association.
Market participants noted that India has only a narrow export window between January and March. A New Delhi-based dealer said shipments from top producer Brazil are expected to undercut Indian prices from April as Brazilian supplies rise.
Brazil’s crop agency Conab in November raised its 2025/26 sugar production forecast to 45 million metric tons. Industry group Unica reported in December that Brazil’s cumulative Center-South sugar output through November increased 1.1 percent year on year to 39.9 million tons, while the share of cane diverted to sugar production also rose.
Globally, the US Department of Agriculture projects 2025/26 sugar production will climb 4.6 percent to a record 189.3 million tons, while consumption is forecast to rise 1.4 percent to 177.9 million tons, with ending stocks expected to decline year ahead.
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