作者： bharat.cn

India’s white sugar shipments have been brought to a near standstill by the coronavirus lockdown, depriving the global market of key supplies after a poor harvest in Asia’s top exporter Thailand.

Most of India’s private ports have declared force majeure and while government ports are operating, they face labour shortages as Indians have been ordered to stay home and avoid spreading the coronavirus under a 21-day lockdown.

“Ports are functioning for clearing backlogs rather than executing new business,” Rahil Shaikh, managing director of trading company MEIR Commodities India, said.

“Container traffic has virtually stopped, there’s no courier services, no buses, and no public transport. Migrant labour has gone back to the countryside and customs are operating at about 5-10% of capacity,” Shaikh said.

Even before the lockdown, Indian industry officials had cut 2019/20 sugar export estimates to 4.5 million tonnes as a drop in prices had made overseas sales unprofitable.

This could fall further if the lockdown is extended. Most of India’s 2019/20 sugar exports contracts were for white, rather than raw, sugar.

“In the last three weeks, not a single new deal was signed due to labour shortages and lower prices,” a Mumbai-based dealer at a global trading firm said. Two other dealers based in the capital confirmed the trend.

Of the 3.75 million tonnes of sugar export deals agreed to since the start of the season on Oct 1, Indian mills have shipped out 2.86 million tonnes, the All India Sugar Trade Association said.

Shaik said nearly all the remaining tonnages are stuck.

Data from his firm shows private operators like Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone have declared force majeure, while state-run ports such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) are all operating with delays.

When should India end coronavirus lockdown? This is the question that people are asking and is being discussed by leaders and those in the government.

In his interaction with chief ministers last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked them for suggestions for an exit strategy to end the nationwide lockdown enforced on March 24 to contain novel coronavirus outbreak. The 21-day national lockdown would end on April 14. Now, the dominant exit strategy suggestion from the states is to extend the lockdown.

Reports say at least half-a-dozen states, including worst-affected Maharashtra, have favoured extension of national lockdown citing no let-up in the coronavirus situation. Some others have called for graded end to the lockdown. PM Modi in his interaction with the chief ministers had also favoured a staggered lifting of the lockdown.

This state of confusion is because there is no concrete model anywhere in the world to exit from coronavirus lockdown. In China, where Covid-19 pandemic began, the lockdown continued for over two months and was lifted in a phased manner.

For example, in the coronavirus epicentre Wuhan, China lifted lockdown after 76 days. Residents of Wuhan are now being allowed to travel in the city and also cross its borders. But, reports suggest that the Chinese authorities are keeping intense surveillance on the movement of people.

Broadly, there are five focal points around which exit strategies have been suggested world over. Lockdown is widely considered as a strategy coming out of the confusion that the coronavirus pandemic has created. Since the virus is still new and understanding coronavirus is a process in progress, lockdown has bought authorities some time to prepare a plan.

Dashing hopes of a complete exit from the ongoing lockdown in one go, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country is facing a “social emergency” like situation as well as serious economic challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which showed a sharp spike in the infections, taking the nationwide tally to over 5,200 with at least 149 deaths.

After an interaction with Modi via video conference, several political leaders said the lockdown might not be lifted completely after April 14 and they were told by the prime minister that the pre-corona and post-corona life won’t be the same.

“The situation in the country is akin to a social emergency…it has necessitated tough decisions and we must continue to remain vigilant,” the prime minister told the leaders, according to an official statement. He asserted that his government’s priority is to “save each and every life”.

“The present situation is an epoch changing event in mankind’s history and we must evolve to counter its impact,” Modi said.