Mar 22 2011 12:26PM
NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India's food ministry has proposed imposing a 15% tax on imported refined sugar effective April 1 to protect local millers as the country's output of the sweetener is expected to exceed its consumption level, two senior government officials said Tuesday.
The South Asian nation allows tax-free sugar imports until March 31.
"A moderate import tax will discourage supplies from overseas," one of the officials told Dow Jones Newswires.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
A final decision on this will be taken at a meeting of an Indian ministerial panel later Tuesday. The panel is also expected to consider allowing export of up to 500,000 metric tons of sugar. In December, the food ministry approved export of 500,000 tons of sugar, but the decision was put on hold due to concerns over food inflation.
The panel's decision is keenly awaited not just in India, where prices have fallen since January due to higher supplies, but also in international markets. Global sugar prices, which have climbed from last week's four-month low, remained directionless Monday ahead of the government's decision. The Intercontinental Exchange's benchmark May contract fell 0.8% to 27.48 cents a pound Monday.
India, the world's largest sugar consumer, is likely to produce 24.5 million tons of the sweetener in the year through September, up from around 19 million tons last year. The country consumes an estimated 22 million tons annually
No comments:
Post a Comment