Simbhaoli Sugars to earn addl 3 bln rupees from refining

MUMBAI, June 25 (Reuters) - Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd (SIMB.BO) said on Thursday it has contracted to import 0.11 million tonnes raw sugar from Brazil for refining, which will earn an additional 3 billion rupees in revenue.

The firm has contracted to import the raws during the off season before November and it will give a margin of 3-4 rupees a kg, it said in a press release, quoting its Director of Finance, Sanjay Tapriya.

The firm has already imported and refined 20,000 tonnes by April 2009, it said in another release issued on Wednesday.

Simbhaoli will refine about 0.25 million tonnes of raw sugar in the year-ending September 2010, to fill the sugar deficit in India, it said.

Sugar output in the year-ending September 2009 is pegged at 14.7 million tonnes from 26.4 million in 2007/08.

"Refining raw sugar and exporting refined sugar is a commercially viable business," Executive Director G.S.C. Rao was quoted as saying in the release. "Going ahead, raw refining is expected to be our major strength and growth drivers."

Earlier this year, the federal government allowed duty-free imports of raws till Aug. 1, without any export obligation. Earlier mills had to source raw sugar from overseas markets at zero duty but had to export the same consignment within three years after refining. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)