Sugar stocks gained up to 5% in trade on Wednesday, October 29, after reports of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) is seeking orders for 1.5 billion litre ethanol from cane feedstock in the next cycle.

Meanwhile, news agency PTI reported that the Centre is considering permitting sugar exports in the 2025-26 marketing year, as surplus stock accumulates due to its lower-than-expected diversion for ethanol production.

Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told the news agency that India's sugar mills diverted just 3.4 million tonne sugar for ethanol manufacturing in 2024-25, which was below the estimate of 4.5 million tonne. As a result, there are high opening stocks for the current marketing year that runs from October 2025 to September 2026, he said.

Sugar production for the period

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