Why is sugar sector firing up this week?

An update on Praj Industries

Earlier this year, we had discussed the fundamentals of Praj Industries, which makes equipments that help sugar companies convert sugar cane juice or sugar syrups into ethanol — which in turn is used as a fuel in vehicles.

For eg, E10 (10% ethanol, 90% petrol) and E85 (85% ethanol, 15% petrol) are popular blends used to reduce emissions. Of course, ethanol is also used in various other items such as alcohol beverages, pharma, cosmetics, sanitizers, chemicals, food preservatives, and more.

Also, while ethanol is widely produced from sugarcane, it is also produced from corn, wheat, barley, and bio-waste such as wood chips, rice husks, corn stover, and so forth. So Praj helps companies convert their bio-waste into ethanol. Besides, Praj has also ventured into biogas production, sustainable aviation fuel or SAF (which again is derived from renewable feedstocks like biomass, agricultural residues, and non-edible oils), and green hydrogen.

Why am I mentioning this again today? Well, because the stock hit an all-time high this week of Rs 800. When we discussed it, the stock was at 490.

Why did it touch an all-time high?