Government measures ease wholesale pressure
Key Highlights
- Ex-mill sugar prices have fallen nearly 30 per cent from their August peak.
- Prices dropped from ₹67 per kg on August 18 to ₹47 per kg.
- The decline followed multiple government interventions.
- Retail prices have yet to fully reflect the fall in ex-mill rates.
- Additional refined sugar is expected to enter the domestic market.
- New stockholding limits for bulk sugar users will take effect from September 1.
News Story
New Delhi, August 31, 2026: Ex-mill sugar prices have fallen nearly 30 per cent from their peak earlier this month following a series of government interventions aimed at increasing domestic availability and controlling stockholding.
The ex-mill price of sugar declined to around ₹47 per kg on Monday from approximately ₹67 per kg on August 18.
However, the decline has not yet fully reached retail consumers.
Industry sources said changes in ex-mill prices are reflected relatively quickly in wholesale markets, while retail prices generally take longer to adjust.
Retailers holding sugar purchased at higher prices may continue selling their existing inventory at earlier rates until fresh stock is procured at lower prices.
Retail sugar was selling at around ₹64.23 per kg on Sunday, compared with a wholesale rate of ₹59.72 per kg.
The decline in ex-mill prices followed the government’s decision to allow mills that had refined sugar for export to instead sell the product in the domestic market.
An estimated 3-3.5 lakh tonnes of refined sugar is expected to enter the domestic market over the next two months.
The government has also tightened stockholding norms for bulk sugar consumers.
From September 1, bulk users consuming more than 10 tonnes of sugar per month will not be permitted to hold stock for more than 15 days at a stretch.
The government has also opened imports, tightened stockholding norms and previously banned sugar exports as part of efforts to manage domestic prices.
