Sugar prices are rising and that is despite the fact that the summer has not even started yet.
From here on, if you have a sweet tooth, be prepared to pay more to satiate it. The summer has not even set in, but the massive rise in temperatures above normal for this time of the year is making for ideal conditions boosting sugar prices by as much as 4.5% over the last two weeks. With the heat up, ice cream and beverages companies have increased their production causing demand for the commodity to rise significantly. And this is not restricted to any one part of the country, the trend is seen as being pan-India.
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To these demand factors has been added another major one – Lok Sabha 2024 and other state elections, which are currently underway. With every part of the country mobilised for this massive event, the public demand for sweeteners has increased too.
The rise in sugar prices is happening despite the government having taken steps quite early to allocate a higher sales quota for sugar mills, the Economic Times reports. So, the allocation for February was 2.2 million tonnes and this was increased to 2.35 million tonnes and thereafter 2.5 million tonnes for March and April, 2024 respectively.
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Earlier in the week, CNBC TV18 quoted Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra as saying that sugarcane will continue to be diverted for ethanol – the government is planning to achieve 20% ethanol blending in fuel. He also stated that there is a 5.5% year-on-year inflation in sugar, but did not see any supply-side shocks. He also indicated that farmers are being paid on time.
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Notably, back in February 2024, the PM Narendra Modi-chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given its nod to raise the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane to ₹340 per quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season. The move was seen helping over 5 crore sugarcane farmers.
