Sugar mills claim surplus stock of $1b

Again press govt to allow export of sweetener

LAHORE:

Sugar millers have emphasised that they have surplus stocks in the country amounting to $1 billion and these can be sold in the international market that will fetch foreign exchange as well as revenue for the government.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) argued that for the past one year, the sugar industry had been reminding the government of the need for export of surplus sugar. However, he said, even after checking the stocks through the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) track and trace system and verification by other government departments, the federal government was not giving permission for export.

He voiced confidence that sugar mills would again produce surplus sweetener amounting to $1 billion in the upcoming crushing season. “Prices of sugar are continuously decreasing in the international market. If no attention is paid to this matter, then the rates will fall to levels where the government will have no option but to give subsidies on sugar export,” he said.

The spokesman warned that if they did not get the nod for sugar shipments, then the mills would not be in a position to start the new crushing season.