*Ritu Khatri AHMEDABAD : *An empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on food, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee discussed the crucial issue of imposing import duty on white sugar imports and reduction in quantity of sugar that the government buys from mills for supply through ration shops, known as levy sugar.
The EGoM decided not to take any decision on the Food Ministry's proposal on sugar imports, according to official sources. The government on deferred the decision on imposing import duty on refined sugar in the wake of high food inflation. The sugar makers reflected a rosy picture on the Indian bourses following the move of the government to hold the decision whether to import duty on white sugar. Instead, the EGoM decided to keep a watch on sugar prices for some more days before imposing duty on the sweetener, according to sources. Welcoming the move, major sugar stocks like Upper Ganges Sugar & Industries Ltd. (BOM:530505), Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd. (BOM:507446) and Rana Sugars Ltd. (BOM:507490) rose to 6.18%, 3.29% and 0.09% on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, from the previous close. Meanwhile, other stocks like Jeypore Sugar Company Ltd (BOM:590054), Oudh Sugar Mills Ltd. (BOM:507260) and Balrampur Chini Mills Limited (BOM:500038) gained momentum to 2.17%, 1.79% and 0.90% on the BSE. Whereas Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd (BOM:500032) was seen tad up by 0.18% on the BSE. The country's annual food inflation touched 16.90 per cent as on June 12, 2010. Presently, sugar prices have come down to Rs 32-34 a kg from nearly Rs 50 per kg in mid-January, but they are still ruling higher as compared to last year. The Food Ministry is believed to have recommended about 15 per cent customs duty on refined sugar to avoid cheap imports. Meanwhile, the panel of ministers also deffered a decision on reducing the quantity of sugar that mills are obligated to sell to the goverment for ration shops. Presently, sugar mills are obligated to supply 20% of their production to the government for ration shops, while the proposal was to bring the quantity down to 16 per cent. However, sugar mills have been demanding reduction in the quantity of sugar that they sell to the government for PDS needs and imposition of import duty on refined or white sugar as sugar prices in the retail markets have dropped by more than 30% since the time these steps were taken. The country has imported six million tonnes of sugar since February 2009 to meet the domestic demand, which is estimated at 23 million tonnes. While sugar production in the 2009-10 crop year (September-October) is estimated to be about 18.5 million tonnes. -- Regards Hardik Shah -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
