My observations on the current situation of the Industry are as follows:
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Sugar production in Brazil has increased to 41 million tonnes in 2023-24 compared to 38 million tonnes in the previous year. . Source Sugar production in Brazil 2023 | Statista The sugar cane production is much more than the sugar production in Brazil and the mills choose between sugar and Ethanol depending upon whichever is more profitable. So, if the sugar prices become more attractive, Brazil might prefer to produce sugar which will bridge part of the gap.
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The global sugar price show a decline trend peaking out at 28 cents a pound in the fourth quarter of 2023.source Sugar - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News
However, Reuters expects to prices to increase due to expected shortages in the global market. Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-raw-sugar-prices-expected-rise-20-this-year-2024-02-14/#:~:text=Commodities-,Global%20raw%20sugar%20prices%20expected,20%25%20this%20year%3A%20Reuters%20poll&text=LONDON%2C%20Feb%2014%20(Reuters),12%20traders%20and%20analysts%20showed.
So, it is a dynamic situation of how much is the expected shortage and what does Brazil do. -
At the current prices and together with export subsidy, exporting sugar is attractive for the Indian sugar mills.
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The average Indian sugar production have been about 32 million tonnes while the domestic consumption has been about 26million tonnes leaving an excess of about 6 million tonnes To prevent sugar shortage, the Government might have decided to restrict exports, restrict diversion of sugar cane juice and B Heaby molasses.
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If India wants to achieve 20% ethanol mixing in petrol by 2025, the excess production of 6 million tonnes equivalent or a major portion of it can be diverted towards ethanol. In this case, the country will achieve its target of mixing in Petrol, the government need not have to pay export subsidy and the mills will get a better realization.
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The major headwinds for the industry now are Export restrictions and restrictions on use of sugar cane juice and B Heavy Molasses for ethanol production. While FRP have gone up many times for the sugar cane, the MSP for sugar have not increased for a long time now. All these are policy decisions by the government. One may not expect any such policy decisions to be taken before the elections. However, after Election, whichever party comes to power , may take such decisions based on how they perceive the adequacy of sugar in the country is.
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Such policy decisions may be the infliction point for the sugar stocks. Sugar stock prices have corrected from their peak and in my humble opinion deserve to be in our watch list.
Disclosure: I do not own any sugar stocks. I am not SEBI registered . My views are academic and arenot recommendations to buy or hold or sell.
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