An Indian sugar mill sold 2,300 tonnes of white sugar to Pakistan on Thursday, close on the heels of another company clinching a deal to deliver about 2,400 tonnes sugar to that country.
The firms said they had sold the sugar to Pakistan, which is looking for the sweetener to bridge a supply shortfall, under the obligation to re-export raw sugar after refining.
Indian mills, who can import raw sugar duty-free under the government's advance licence scheme, have an obligation to export a similar quantity of refined sugar.
Indian mills have bought around 2.65 million tonnes of raw sugar under the scheme during the last two years to offset a shortfall in supplies.
An official of a sugar mill, based in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said it sold 2,300 tonnes of white sugar to Pakistan at $376 per tonne free on board. It will be delivered at Attari border before January 31.
"We have started the process of re-export of raw sugar after refining," he added. He said the price at which it was sold was lower than the prevailing Indian price but the company preferred to start exports as it had to fulfil the obligation within a stipulated time.
An official at another sugar mill also told Reuters the firm recently clinched a deal to sell about 2,400 tonnes of sugar to Pakistan at $370 a tonne FOB.
"We are in the process of selling two more rakes (wagon-loads) to Pakistan," the official said. One rail wagon can carry about 2,400 tonnes of sugar.
Comments
Comments are closed.