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Sugar millers are requesting the government to allow export of imported sugar which has piled up at a key Mundra port in Gujarat due to shortage of railway wagons.
According to traders, about 7, 50,000 tonnes of sugar is stranded at the western port of Mundra because the railways have been asked to use the wagons for transporting fertilisers inland.
"We have ample sugar now. It makes sense for the government to permit mills to export imported stocks rather than let sugar pile up at ports," Vivek Saraogi, president, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), said.
Some trade officials said that the farm ministry had requested the railways help move sugar stocks from ports. India, the world's top consumer and second-biggest producer, allowed duty-free imports of sugar to step up supplies in 2009.
The ISMA in July said total imports in the year to September 2010 were likely to be 4.53 mt of raws and 0.99 mt of whites. Output in the next season from October was expected at 25.5 mt from 18.8 mt in 2009/10 as higher domestic sugar prices in 2009 and early this year would encourage farmers to grow more cane.
"With higher production this year and fairly good estimates for the next year, we must export without any delay," Saraogi said. Many industry experts believe that Indian mills can capitalise on Asian demand. "There is an opportunity to export now," said M N Rao, deputy director-general, ISMA. "What is the point in denying exports when there will be no demand in the region," he questioned.
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