India scraps sugar export tax to boost exports, cut inventory

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has scrapped the 20 percent sugar export tax, a government source said on Tuesday, to help boost overseas sales in a surplus year of production.

Last week Reuters reported that India, the world’s biggest consumer of sugar, would axe the export tax on the sweetener and then make it compulsory for mills to export 2-3 million tonnes to cut bulging stocks at home.

The country is likely to produce a record 29.5 million tonnes of sugar in the 2017/18 season that ends on Sept. 30, up 45 percent from the previous year, hammering local prices down by more than 15 percent in the past six months.