Lahore: The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Punjab (Zone) has warned of a severe crisis facing the sugar industry, highlighting a unique challenge where the government sets minimum prices for sugarcane while the market dictates sugar prices, reported The News.
In a statement released on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Punjab (Zone) highlighted that mills find themselves in the predicament of selling sugar below production costs to ensure timely payments to growers and meet working capital requirements. The current downturn in sugar prices is attributed to the carryover stocks from the previous season, marked by minimal exports and a surplus of one million metric tonnes. The spokesperson also expressed concern over ‘unlawful’ restrictions on the interprovincial movement of sugar to deficit provinces, adversely affecting sugar prices.
Despite repeated requests, the spokesperson lamented the absence of government intervention or support to permit exports or the purchase of surplus sugar stocks by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) for strategic reserves.
