India, one of the largest sugar producers in the world, will ban the export of this product to local companies starting in October 2023. This news is reported by Reuters, citing sources in the Indian government.

The last time India imposed a ban on sugar exports was seven years ago. The termination of sugar supplies from India may lead to an increase in world prices for this product, as Reuters suggests.

The main reason for the export ban is the expected shortage of sugar in the country due to dry weather. The lack of rainfall in the western state of Maharashtra and the southern state of Karnataka, which are the main sugar cane producing regions in India, has caused the loss of more than 50% of the crop.

Local sugar prices have already jumped to the highest level in almost two years, forcing the government to allow factories to sell an additional 200,000 tons domestically in August.

A government spokesperson said, "Our main goal is to meet local sugar needs and produce ethanol from surplus sugar cane. For the next season, we will not have enough sugar to allocate export quotas."

In the current season (until September 30), India allowed factories to export only 6.1 million tons of sugar, compared to a record 11.1 million tons last season.

In 2016, India introduced a 20% tax on sugar exports to limit sales abroad.

It is expected that sugar production in India will decrease by 3.3% to 31.7 million tons in the next season 2023/2024.