02 September 2021, IN: India’s sugar exports to Afghanistan came to a halt as Indian merchants said that due to the current situation in the country orders were cancelled, a government official familiar with the development told news agency PTI.
Afghanistan is among the top three destinations for sugar exports from India. Every year 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of sugar are exported to Afghanistan. During the 2020-21 fiscal year India exported 650,000 tonnes of sugar so far. The season for sugar runs from October to September.
“Our sugar export to Afghanistan has been affected now because of the prevailing current situation out there. Some orders have been cancelled,” Subodh Kumar, joint secretary in the food ministry, told news agency PTI. He however said that sugar exports will resume in the next season after normalcy is restored under the new regime.
There is no change in the India-Afghanistan trade policy unlike Pakistan which decided to not buy sugar from India. India is the world’s second largest producer of sugar after Brazil.
India exported six million tonnes of sugar in the 2020-21 season. India produced an estimated 31 million tonnes of sugar in the current 2020-21 season.
