Interim govt defers export of sugar, seeks stock details from millers

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government has postponed the decision to export 250,000 metric tons of sugar and sought details of available stock from the sugar mill owners, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

Sources told ARY News that Caretaker Industries and Production Minister Dr Gohar Ijaz chaired a meeting of Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) to consider the request of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) to export surplus sugar.

During the meeting, sugar mill owners sought permission to export 250,000 metric tons of surplus sugar.

While deferring the decision till Thursday, the advisory board directed the sugar mills owners to share the sugar stock details by the next meeting.

The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) claimed that it had 1.13 million metric tons of sugar in stock, while the country’s annual requirement was around 0.7 million metric tons.

It is pertinent to mention that sugar exports during FY23 stood at 215,751 tonnes fetching $104m against nil exports in FY22. Exports during the July-September quarter of 2023-24 were 35,102 tonnes earning $21m as compared to zero exports in the corresponding quarter of FY23.

Meanwhile, the board also approved the Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for sugarcane at Rs425 per 40 kg for Sindh and Rs400 per 40 kg for Punjab for the crushing season 2023-24.

The meeting was informed that the sugar crushing season in Sindh had already started and would commence in Punjab on November 25.

The previous government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had allowed the export of 250,000 metric tons of sugar in December 2022, with the condition that the price of sugar would not increase beyond Rs100 per kg in the local market. However, the price of sugar had surged to all-time high in the local market.

Earlier this year, sugar prices had reached an all-time high of Rs200 per kg, following the export of sugar.