India has extended a general ban on the export of white refined sugar, from which some mills are exempt, until the end of the financial year in March 2007 to keep domestic prices in check.
The order does not apply to sugar mills which had imported duty-free raw sugar on the condition that an equivalent amount of refined white sugar would be exported within two years, traders said. A notice posted on a government Web site said the ban on sugar exports would apply to all firms which had opened letters of credit on or after June 22.
With domestic sugar prices moderate at 19-20 rupees (0.43 cents) per kg, the trade said it was unclear what the government was trying to achieve. Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the Maharashtra State Co-op Sugar Factories Federation Ltd, said a bumper sugar harvest this year of 19.1 million tonnes, and a likely record 22 million tonnes of output in the year to September 2007 were expected to ensure comfortable supplies.
In a separate notification the government also banned the export of pulses until the end of March 2007. Pulses, sugar and wheat are the three commodities being closely monitored by the government to ensure steady prices.