20000224

Crushing ends

with 2.8m tonnes

sugar output

ANWAR RAJANI

KARACHI: Sugar mills have practically finished seasonal sugarcane crushing with the total production of about 2.8 million tonnes, against 3.5 million tonnes of last year, it is learnt.

A few mills in Sindh and Punjab are still operating, but with small quantity of sugarcane left for crushing. All Sindh mills will close down their operation before the end of the current month. The remaining Punjab mills may continue crushing up to March 15.

The shorter crop of sugarcane had created problems for sugar millers particularly in Sindh, where they paid more to growers for cane than the minimum price fixed by the government at Rs 36 per maund. The competition among the mills led the cane, grower to sell their cane up to Rs 60 per maund. According to reports reaching Karachi, the mill-owners in Sindh have withheld the payment to growers, like they did last year. About Rs 640 million is still to be paid to growers by various mills.

Due to shortage of cane sugarcane cess collected was much less than previous years.

It seems that import of sugar this year is inevitable.

According to market sources, the imports of sugar might touch the figure of more than 0.5 million tonnes.

The prices of sugar have already started moving up. Ex-factory price has gone up from Rs 16.50 to over Rs 18.50 per kg. It has also affected the retail market where the customers are now paying about Rs 21 per kg.

Market sources are of the view that the announcement of the government to facilitate the import should be made as early as possible to arrest further rise in the prices.