India exports 1.69 million tons of sugar till Jan 4 of FY23: Report

India has exported 16.92 lakh tonnes of sugar till January 4 of the ongoing 2022-23 marketing year, including 59,596 tonnes of the sweetener to neighbouring China, trade body AISTA said on Tuesday.

Among other neighbouring nations, India has exported 1.47 lakh tonnes of sugar to Bangladesh, and 82,462 tonnes to Sri Lanka during October-January 4 of the current marketing year, All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) said in a statement.

The sugar marketing year runs from October to September. The government has allowed export of 6 million tonnes till May of the 2022-23 marketing year.

According to AISTA, mills have exported a total of 16,92,751 tonnes of sugar from October 1, 2022 to January 4, this year.

Over 3.47 lakh tonnes of sugar is under loading, while 2.54 lakh tonnes of sugar has been delivered to refineries considered to be deemed export in the said period, it said.

Of the total exports undertaken so far, maximum exports have been to Somalia at 1.70 lakh tonnes, followed by the UAE at 1.69 lakh tonnes, Djibouti at 1.50 lakh tonnes, and Sudan at 1.37 lakh tonnes.

India exported 1.36 lakh tonnes to Malaysia, 1.18 lakh tonnes to Indonesia, and 1.08 lakh tonnes to Saudi Arabia till January 4 of the current marketing year, AISTA added.

Sugar exports from India, one of the world's major sugar producing nations, stood at 11.2 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year.

AISTA has made an initial projection of sugar output to be lower at 35.8 million tonnes during the 2022-23 marketing year, from a record 36.5 million tonnes in the previous year.