If there is no export, there is no crushing season: PSMA estimates that shipping one million tonnes of surplus sugar abroad might bring in one billion dollars for the national treasury.
LAHORE: On Friday, sugar millers categorically refused to start the crushing season of 2022-2023 unless they are given permission to export one million tonnes of surplus sugar lying in their godowns. This has the potential to add up to one billion dollars to the national exchequer, and the millers are demanding this permission.
It is estimated that there is currently 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes of sugar available, which is enough to satisfy the demands of the domestic market until January 15, 2023.
Asim Ghani Usman, the Central Chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), made these remarks during a news conference: “If the government insists on not permitting exports, then the crushing season will begin from mid-January onwards.” In the event that the government does not have faith in the figures that were provided by the millers or the cost of sugar production, then it may appoint an independent foreign auditor in order to allow the matter to be resolved once and for all.
The chairman of the PSMA also made the suggestion that “if the government, due to political considerations, wanted to keep some buffer stocks, then it could retain 500,000 tonnes of sugar and allow the rest to be exported.” This was said in reference to the possibility that the government might want to keep some buffer stocks.
In response to a question regarding the fact that Sindh had stated that the beginning of its crushing season would begin on November 29, and that it was mandatory for millers to begin crushing by November 30, he stated, “They are ready to face legal consequences, but they cannot sell their produce below the cost of production.” They will be forced into default, which would result in financial losses not only for the mills but also for the sugarcane growers.
