Govt extends duty-free sugar imports till Dec 2010

NEW DELHI: The Centre has extended tax-free white sugar imports until December 2010 as the world’s biggest consumer of the sweetener faces robust demand and shrinking domestic output, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday. ICE March raw sugar was up 0.4% at 23.73 cents a pound at the time of going to press, and analysts said the move would support high prices, but imports are not expected to jump in the short term as mills were about start crushing cane. “The situation is tight in sugar.... Duty-free sugar imports will bridge the supply gap,” Mr Pawar told reporters. Cane output is expected to fall after the worst monsoon in nearly four decades ravaged many cane fields. In April, the government allowed duty-free imports of white sugar until November 30, which Mr Pawar said last month could be extended to June 2010. Clarity on the import regime up to the end of next year was was useful, said Ajit Chowgule, secretary of the Maharashtra Co-operative Sugar Factories Federation. “The minimum period for the sugar cycle, starting from cane planting to end product is 12 months,” he said, adding “It helps if a policy is announced beforehand. Both farmers and industry get enough time to plan.” OUTPUT Mr Pawar said the country was likely to produce 16 million tonnes of sugar in the year that began this month, lower than the 18-million-tonne forecast made by farm ministry official Abinash Verma at a sugar conference in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. India’s annual sugar consumption is about 23 million tonnes. “It is not simple for me and my ministry to manage the sugar situation,” he सैद। ई टी)