The sugar crushing season 2012-13 is coming to an end, and only 131 sugar mills are still crushing sugarcane. During the corresponding period last year, 169 sugar mills were operational last year.
Till April 15, 2013, sugar mills crushed about 2,400 lakh tonne of sugarcane to produce 241.1 lakh tonne of sugar, which is about two per cent less than last year's output of 245.71 lakh tonne. Till date, sugar recovery is about 10.11 per cent, which is 0.18 units less than last year.
Maharashtra tops the list, having produced 79.10 lakh tonne of sugar with 11.38 per cent recovery. Out of the 169 mills that crushed sugarcane in 2012-13, only 18 mills are still crushing, and these are also expected to close by the end of April.
Till date, sugar production is down by seven per cent, with the recovery being 0.19 units less than it was last year. Last year, 76 mills were crushing, and the state had produced 89.9 lakh tonne of sugar in the season.
Uttar Pradesh has crushed 793 lakh tonne of sugarcane to produce 72.9 lakh tonne of sugar, which is about five per cent higher than last year. Only 60 mills are crushing cane, as against 14 mills last year and 121 mills at the start of the current season.
However, overall recovery is up to 9.19 per cent in the state, which is about 0.13 units higher than last year.
Sugar recoveries reported are higher in western and central Uttar Pradesh, while in eastern Uttar Pradesh, there is a slightly downward trend in recoveries over the last year. It is estimated that crushing operations for 2012-13 will close in Uttar Pradesh by the month-end.
Karnataka has already closed their 2012-13 crushing season with 33.33 lakh tonne of sugar, which is about 10 per cent less than last year. The reported recovery of 2012-13 – 10.44 per cent – is 0.52 units less than last year.
In Tamil Nadu, about 33 sugar mills are crushing and have produced 14.7 lakh tonne of sugar, which is almost the same as that of last year. However, the sugar recovery of 9.25 per cent is 0.5 units less than last year.
Andhra Pradesh is currently crushing in three sugar mills and has produced 9.8 lakh tonne of sugar, with a 9.67 per cent recovery.
Gujarat, which produced 11.3 lakh tonnes of sugar, has also almost closed crushing for the season 2012-13.
There are smaller states like Haryana and Uttaranchal, which are operating 11 and five sugar mills respectively, but will soon close their crushing operations for the season 2012-13.
