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  • 1.3m tonnes of sugar (raws and whites) have been shipped from India since the season began in Oct’19.
  • A further 878k tonnes has been sold to domestic refineries for processing and export.
  • We expect decent shipment flows to continue now that the world market has strengthened to profitable levels for exporters.

Total Exports

  • Total exports from India to the world market in Q4’19 finished at 916k tonnes, compared to 945k tonnes in Q4’18.
  • January’s line up is already strong with 174k tonnes committed in the first week of the month.

India Monthly Exports – Off to a Strong Start

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Mill Exports

  • 710k tonnes of raw and white sugar were exported from mills in Q4’19.
  • January exports have started well with 168k tonnes in the line-up.
  • So far, 470k tonnes of raw sugar has been ‘exported’ almost exclusively to Iran and coastal refineries.
  • The pace of exports has increased in December and January as more sugar has been produced.
  • We are yet to see Bangladesh import any Indian sugar this season after taking 480k tonnes last season but Malaysia has just taken its first shipment of 48k tonnes in January.

Monthly Mill Exports (Raw Sugar)

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  • Mill exports of white sugar started strongly this season with more exported in October and November than in 2018, however they have since slowed down and Q4’19 exports ended slightly behind Q4’18.
  • Exports to Sri Lanka slowed by almost 50k tonnes between November and December 2019.
  • Exports to Somalia have over doubled year-on-year to 134k tonnes.
  • With world market prices having rallied sharply in the New Year, we would export flows to increase.

Monthly Mill Exports (White Sugar)

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Refinery Exports

  • The Indian coastal refineries have continued to export at the average pace of last season.
  • Q4’19 has seen 417k tonnes of refined sugar shipped.
  • Shipments to Sudan and Djibouti have been comparatively slow this season compared to the average flows seen in 18/19.
  • However, flows to Ethiopia have increased recently with 150k tonnes having sailed since September.

Monthly Refinery Exports

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Will Langston

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