Pune: Indian sugar mills have contracted to export 50,000 tonnes of white sugar to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan at USD 340-USD 345 a tonne, free on board, trade sources said, the first major deal in the past few months.
The cargoes are for July shipment, they said.
India, the world`s biggest sugar consumer, has signed the export deal due to a sharp fall in local prices.
After a sustained drop in the past 10 days, local ex-mill sugar prices have now fallen to 19,200 rupees a tonne, pushing mills to take export orders.
After five straight years of surplus production, India is swamped with sugar. As a result, prices have crashed and many mills are struggling with big debts.
Sugar stocks are now expected to touch 10.3 million tonnes on Oct. 1, when the new 2015/16 season starts, up 37 percent from the previous year.
This year`s output is expected to reach 28.5 million tonnes, nearly 4.5 million tonnes more than consumption.
