PSMA threatens to delay crushing season if demands not met

LAHORE: Sugar millers have threatened to delay the crushing season 2022-23, if their demands, including approval for sugar export, remain unfulfilled. They expressed their inability to start crushing season in a meeting with the officials of Punjab Agriculture and Food Departments.

As per spokesperson Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, all members unanimously said the sugar mills have ample stocks of sugar in their warehouses, adding, if the crushing season starts without the export of the surplus stock, the warehouses will run out of space to store the new stock. They claimed the sugar mills are selling sugar at Rs78-80 - less than the production cost - as the sugar cost during 2021-22 crushing season stands at Rs90 per kg.

They added the banks increased the markup rate to 15 percent from10 percent on the current stocks of sugar causing financial loss to the sugar mills.

The PSMA demanded that the sugar exporters should be treated at par the exporters of other goods by the government in terms of provision of funds. The sugar millers cautioned the government of making the right decisions in the country’s interest and added that the government’s decisions will be detrimental for Pakistan and its industry.