New Delhi. Although industrial demand for sugar remains strong in the domestic sector and it is also being used for other purposes, its price remained either stable or soft during the week of 10 to 16 May due to better supply and availability.

The spot market price of sugar remained at the previous level of Rs 4300/4400 per quintal in Delhi, Rs 4170/4270 per quintal in Indore and Rs 4125/4200 per quintal in Raipur. There was no change in the price level of Rs 4280/4400 per quintal in Kolkata too, but in Mumbai (Vashi) market it fell by Rs 20 to Rs 3930/4130 per quintal. Its Naka port delivery price fell by Rs 20 and got stuck at Rs 3880/4080 per quintal.

The tender price of sugar increased by Rs 10-20 in Maharashtra, while the tender price remained soft in Karnataka. There it fell by up to Rs 50 per quintal.

The main production campaign of sugar for the 2024-25 season has ended and this time the total production came down to around 257.50 lakh tonnes. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka may produce about 3.50 lakh tonnes of sugar during the special session, which is expected to take the total production of the entire season to 261 lakh tonnes, but it will still be 58 lakh tonnes less than the gross production of 319 lakh tonnes of the 2023-24 season. Apart from the three top producing states - Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, sugar production has also declined in other producing states including Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Sugar exports are likely to be less than the set target of 10 lakh tonnes. This may lead to an increase in stocks. Industrial demand for sugar is expected to remain strong in the summer months.