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HomePosts Tagged "sugar industry"
Country, India, Sugar industry, World

As of October 31, 2022, more than 96 per cent of cane dues of farmers for SS 2021-22 have already been cleared despite record procurement of sugarcane of more than Rs 1.18 lakh crore

The government of India has allowed the export of sugar up to 60 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) during the sugar season (SS) 2022-23. The Director General of Food Trade (DGFT) has already been notified to extend the inclusion of sugar exports under the ‘Restricted’ category up to October 31, 2023.

The Central Government has prioritised the availability of about 275 (LMT) of sugar for domestic consumption, about 50 LMT of sugar for diversion to ethanol production and has a closing balance of about 60 LMT as of 30.09.2023. A balanced quantity of sugar produced by sugar mills in the country would be allowed for exports. Since at the beginning of sugar season 2022-23, initial estimates of sugarcane production are available, it has been decided to allow the export of 60 LMT sugar. The sugarcane production in the country will be reviewed periodically and based on the latest available estimates, the quantity of sugar exports to be allowed could be reconsidered.

During SS 2021-22, India exported 110 LMT of sugar and became the second largest exporter of sugar in the world and earned about Rs 40,000 crore worth of foreign exchange for the country. Timely payment and low carrying cost of stocks for sugar mills also resulted in early clearance of cane arrears of farmers. As of October 31, 2022, more than 96 per cent of cane dues of farmers for SS 2021-22 were already cleared despite record procurement of sugarcane of more than 1.18 lakh crore rupees.

In the sugar export policy for SS 2022-23, Government has announced a sugar mill-wise export quota for all sugar mills in the country with an objective system based on the average production of sugar mills in the last three years and the average sugar production of the country in last 3 years. Further, to expedite the sugar exports and to ensure flexibility to sugar mills in the execution of the export quota, mills may decide to surrender the quota partially or fully within 60 days of the date of issue of the order or they can swap the export quota with domestic quota within 60 days.

At the end of Sugar Season 2022-23, it is expected that most sugar mills will be able to sell their products either in the domestic market or in the international market through exports and will clear the cane dues of farmers in time. Thus, the policy has created a WIN-WIN situation for sugar mills in the country.

As of October 31, 2022, more than

India, Sugar industry

Of the over 5000 LMT sugarcane produced, 35 LMT sugar was diverted to ethanol production

India emerges as the world’s largest producer and consumer of sugar as well as the world’s 2nd largest exporter of sugar. 

A record of more than 5000 Lakh Metric Tons (LMT) sugarcane was produced in the country out of which about 3574 LMT of sugarcane was crushed by sugar mills to produce about 394 LMT of sugar (Sucrose). Out of this, 35 LMT sugar was diverted to ethanol production and 359 LMT sugar was produced by sugar mills. 

A watershed season for Indian Sugar Sector as all records of sugarcane production, sugar production, sugar exports, cane procured, cane dues paid and ethanol production were made during the season.

Another shining highlight of the season is the highest exports of about 109.8 LMT that too with no financial assistance which was being extended upto 2020-21. Supportive international prices and Indian Government Policy led to this feat of Indian Sugar Industry. These exports earned foreign currency of about INR 40,000 crore for the country.

The success story of sugar industry is the outcome of synchronous and collaborative efforts of Central and State Governments, farmers, sugar mills, ethanol distilleries with very supportive overall ecosystem for business in the country.

Of the over 5000 LMT sugarcane produced,

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Allied Industry, Biofuel industry, India, Sugar industry

Nitin Gadkari , Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, while addressing the felicitation programme of National Cogeneration Awards 2022 in Mumbai gave out a few clarion calls for the agri sector. He said, “Over-production of sugar is a problem for the economy; we spend Rs 15 lakh crore” per year for import of petroleum products, hence we need to diversify the agriculture sector towards energy and power sectors”. 

The minister exhorted the industry of the crucial need to focus on alternative fuels with the help of futuristic technologies. “While 65 to 70 per cent of our population depends on agriculture, our agricultural growth rate is 12 to 13 per cent only; the sugarcane industry and farmers are a growth engine for our industry. And the next move should be cogeneration to increase revenue from sugar. The industry should produce less sugar and produce more by-products, embracing the vision for futuristic technologies and using the power of leadership to convert knowledge into wealth. This will enable the farmers to become not only food growers, but energy producers as well,” Gadkari said.

The minister highlighted that while our requirement was 280 lakh tonnes of sugar this year, the production was more than 360 lakh tonnes; this could be utilised due to the situation in Brazil.  However, we need to divert production towards ethanol as the ethanol requirement is very high. “Last year’s capacity was 400 crore litres of ethanol; we have taken a lot of initiatives to increase ethanol production. Now is the time for the industry to plan demand for ethanol, using technologies such as power generators run by bioethanol,” pointed out Gadkari.

The minister reminded the industry that there is scope of using harvesting technologies for cutting of sugarcane. “Harvesting machines can use ethanol as a fuel, making the circular economy possible.”

Gadkari said that the sugar industry faces many problems and that we need rationalisation of power purchase rates; some states are not giving rates as per the central government policy, this is one reason why the sugarcane industry is not economically viable. The minister also urged the industry to raise this matter at appropriate forums.

Nitin Gadkari , Union Minister for Road

Agro Universities, R&D, Sugar industry

Xylitol production from sugarcane bagasse using ultrasonic fermentation is a potential opportunity for forward integration of sugarcane industries in India

 Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Researchers have developed an ultrasound-assisted fermentation method to produce a safe sugar substitute called ‘Xylitol’ from sugarcane bagasse (the residue left after crushing of sugar cane). This method overcomes the operational limitations of chemical methods of synthesis and the time delays associated with conventional fermentation.

With increasing awareness of the adverse effects of white sugar (sucrose), not only for patients with diabetes but also for general health, there has been a rise in the consumption of safe alternative sweeteners. Xylitol, a sugar alcohol derived from natural products, has potential antidiabetic and anti-obesogenic effects, is a mild prebiotic and protects teeth against caries.

The Research team was led by Prof. V.S. Moholkar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, and included Dr. Belachew Zegale Tizazu and Dr. Kuldeep Roy who co-authored the research papers.

Highlighting the importance of this research, Prof. V.S. Moholkar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, said, “The use of ultrasound during the fermentation process not only reduced the time of fermentation to 15 hours (against almost 48 hours in conventional processes), but also increased the yield of the product by almost 20%. The researchers used only 1.5 hours of ultrasonication during the fermentation, which means that not much ultrasound power was consumed in the process. Thus, xylitol production from sugarcane bagasse using ultrasonic fermentation is a potential opportunity for forward integration of sugarcane industries in India”

Xylitol is industrially produced by a chemical reaction in which wood-derived D-xylose, a costly chemical, is treated with nickel catalyst at very high temperatures and pressures that makes the process highly energy consuming. Only 8-15% of the xylose is converted to Xylitol and the method requires extensive separation and purification steps, all of which translate to high price for the consumer.

“The present research has been carried out on laboratory scale. Commercial implementation of sonic fermentation requires the design of high-power sources of ultrasound for large-scale fermenters, which in turn requires large-scale transducers and RF amplifiers, which remains a major technical challenge” said Prof. V.S. Moholkar.

Xylitol production from sugarcane bagasse using ultrasonic

Company News, Finance, India, Sugar industry

Company has registered Rs 2,851 crore net revenue from operations in Q1FY23 compared to Rs 1,957 crore in Q1 FY22.

 DCM Shriram Ltd. announced its Q1 FY23 financial results. Company has reported Rs 2,851 crore net revenue from operations in Q1FY23 compared to Rs 1,957 crore in Q1 FY22 registering 46 per cent growth YoY.

Key developments of Q1 FY23 are as follows.

  • Net Revenues (net of excise duty on sale of country liquor) up 46 per cent YoY at Rs 2,851 crore.
  • Chemicals revenues up by 117 per cent at Rs 896 crore driven by prices & volumes.
  • Vinyl business revenues up 31 per cent at Rs 243 crore driven by volumes and prices.
  • Carbide prices up 18 per cent and PVC prices up 3 per cent.
  • Carbide volumes up 135 per cent. PVC volumes down 13 per cent YoY. Volumes in Q1 FY22 were affected due to second wave of Covid 19. Volumes had an impact of Rs 24 crore on the revenues.
  • Fertilizer revenues up 46 per cent at Rs 321 crore resulting from higher gas prices which is a pass through.
  • Shriram Farm Solutions (SFS) revenues stable at Rs 218 crore vs 212 for Q1 FY22.
  • Overall, Sugar business revenues (net of excise duty on country liquor sales) up 26 per cent at Rs 710 crore led by sugar volumes up 20 per cent YoY, due to better releases and domestic sugar prices up 7 per cent.
  • Distillery volumes up 12 per cent YoY and ethanol prices also higher for current ethanol season
  • Bioseed revenues up 9 per cent YoY at Rs 205 crore
  • Revenue from India operations up 31 per cent YoY led by Cotton in trade channel and Corn in institutional channel.

Commenting on the performance for the quarter and period ending March 2022, in a joint statement, Ajay Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director, and Vikram Shriram, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, said, “We are witnessing very high inflation levels across the globe after many decades. There are supply chain disruptions, prices of key commodities are still elevated, Interest rates are rising, currencies across the globe are at historic lows against the US dollar and there is Russia-Ukraine conflict which is continuing. These have led to uncertain economic environment. With our strong businesses and balance sheet we are well placed to manage these uncertainties. Our operating and financial performance during the quarter continues to remain strong.

Sugar business is facing margin pressures in Sugar; however, Ethanol earnings are stable. This season costs have gone up with increased in SAP as well as adverse climate factors. Sugar policy especially in Uttar Pradesh requires better support from government. Ethanol continues to get fillip from the Government considering their target of 20 per cent mandate by 2025, here again cane juice-based ethanol requires a differentiated policy for UP given unfavourable cost dynamics. Fenesta & Shriram Farm Solutions businesses continue to witness good growth with new product portfolios & geographical expansion.

We are investing close to Rs 3,500 crores in various projects primarily in Chemicals and Sugar business which are to be commissioned over the next 12 months and will be funded from internal accruals and debt. These projects will increase our scale, forward integration, new product lines along with bringing efficiencies and cost reduction. Some of these projects are directed towards creating wealth out of waste, building future capabilities and reducing carbon footprint.

Company has registered Rs 2,851 crore net