India has contracted to export 56 lakh tonne sugar so far in the ongoing 2020-21 marketing season and is expected to conclude deals for shipment of the rest 4,00,000 tonne soon, trade body AISTA said on Tuesday. The government has fixed a mandatory export target of 60 lakh tonne surplus sugar for ongoing the 2020-21 season. This export policy was, however, approved only in January.

During the 2019-20 season, India the world’s second-largest sugar-producing nation after Brazil had shipped 59 lakh tonne of the sweetener. Releasing the latest data, the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) said out of 56 lakh tonne export contracts undertaken, 34.78 lakh tonne of the sweetener has been already shipped to the top 12 countries till May 6 of this season.

About 35 per cent of the total export quantity has been shipped to Indonesia (12.17 lakh tonne) so far this season, followed by Afghanistan (4.33 lakh tonne) and the UAE (3.66 lakh tonne) in the said period. AISTA said about 4.54 lakh tonne sugar is in transit and delivery to port-based refineries, while another 4.43 lakh tonne of sugar is under loading.

In total, 43.76 lakh tonne of sugar has been dispatched from sugar mills for export purposes, it added. The trade body, however, expressed concern over high freight rates although the container availability has improved. India is left with an export of 4 lakh tonne sugar under the government’s export policy, for which traders are expected to conclude contracts soon, it said.