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  • India exported 619k tonnes of raw and white sugar in March, down 213k tonnes from the record Feb’20 shipments.
  • The ongoing coronavirus lockdown in India means we don’t expect a lot of sugar to be exported this month.
  • 264k tonnes had been nominated at the start of the month.

Total Exports  

  • India exported 619k tonnes onto the world market in Mar’20, up from 484k tonnes year-on-year (YoY).
  • April’s line up is less impressive than March’s so far, and the current lockdown measures mean very little of the 264k tonnes of nominations will get shipped anyway.
  • Between Oct’19 and Apr’20, exports total approximately 3m tonnes.
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Domestic Mill Exports  

  • 595k tonnes of raw and white sugar were exported from Indian mills last month.
  • April’s exports have started less well than March’s, with 226k tonnes in the line-up so far, compared to 364k tonnes at the same point last month.
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  • After an impressive February, just 51k tonnes of raw sugar were ‘exported’ by India’s mills, compared to 476k tonnes the month prior.
  • In February, much of that sugar went to Iran, Malaysia and India’s coastal refineries, but each of their offtakes decreased substantially last month.
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  • After a slow February, mill exports of white sugar in Mar’20 were far stronger, with 302k tonnes shipped.
  • This is not dissimilar to March 19’s progress, where 296k tonnes were ‘exported’.
  • Interestingly, the primary destinations remained the same as well.
  • So far in April, India’s white sugar exports are at a near standstill as, again, the nationwide lockdown measures make their mark.
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Coastal Refinery Exports  

  • The pace of Indian coastal refinery exports slowed down by 62k tonnes between February and March, only exporting 108k tonnes, compared to 171k tonnes the month prior.
  • Shipments to Somalia and Ethiopia seemed to have slowed over the past few months, compared the average flows seen in the same period last year too.
  • Sudan’s offtake, on the other hand, stays strong; February’s offtake turned out to be its largest in seven months and March’s wasn’t far behind (101k tonnes vs. 80k tonnes).
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Will Langston

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