The caretaker government of Pakistan has delayed its decision regarding the export of 250,000 metric tons of sugar, requesting further information on the current stock from sugar mill owners.
The decision came during a Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) meeting by Caretaker Industries and Production Minister Dr. Gohar Ijaz. The board was deliberating a request from the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) to export surplus sugar.
In the meeting, sugar mill owners requested permission to export 250,000 metric tons of surplus sugar. The advisory board, however, deferred its decision until Thursday, instructing the sugar mill owners to provide detailed information on their sugar stock before the next meeting. The PSMA claimed to have 1.13 million metric tons of sugar in stock, exceeding the country’s annual requirement of approximately 0.7 million metric tons.
Sugar Exports and Minimum Purchase Price Approval
The board noted that sugar exports during the fiscal year 2023 stood at 215,751 tonnes, generating $104 million in revenue, a significant increase compared to no exports in FY22. In the July-September quarter of 2023-24, 35,102 tonnes were exported, earning $21 million, compared to zero in the previous quarter. Additionally, the board approved the Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for sugarcane at Rs425 per 40 kg for Sindh and Rs400 per 40 kg for Punjab for the 2023-24 crushing season.
The board was informed that the sugar-crushing season had already begun in Sindh and would start in Punjab on November 25. It’s worth mentioning that the previous government had permitted the export of 250,000 metric tons of sugar in December 2022, stipulating that the local market price of sugar should not exceed Rs100 per kg. However, following these exports, sugar prices in the local market soared to an all-time high. Earlier this year, sugar prices reached a record high of Rs200 per kg, following the export decision.
