Sugar Export Quota Hike Fails to Ease Industry Woes

16-Feb-2026 04:01 PM

New Delhi. While the central government has accepted the demands of industry organizations and increased the sugar export quota by 500,000 tons for the current marketing season of 2025-26, from 1.5 million tons to 2 million tons, given the domestic and global market conditions, there are doubts whether the industry will fully benefit from this additional export quota.

According to industry analysts, the domestic market price of sugar is higher than the international market, and new sugar production in Brazil is expected to pick up in April. This could further increase pressure on global market prices.

Brazil is the world's leading producer and exporter of sugar and plays a significant role in determining the global market price. During the 2025-26 season, there was a huge sugar production, which put significant pressure on sugar prices. Consequently, sugar exports from India last season did not even reach the stipulated quota of 1 million tons.

Although sugar production in the central southern region of Brazil is projected to decline slightly in the 2026-27 season, global production is still expected to exceed total consumption. Consequently, a significant increase in international market prices is suspected. Sugar production in Thailand, China, and the European Union is also projected to increase, similar to India.

A specific condition has been imposed for the distribution of additional sugar export quotas. Under this, only those millers who complete the shipment of at least 70 percent of their original export quota allocated on November 14, 2025, by the end of June 2026 will be allocated additional quotas, which will be allowed to be shipped until September 30, 2026. Indian sugar exporters are not enjoying much parity in the global market, so the allocation of new quotas may be jeopardized.