LAHORE: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued show-cause notices to 10 sugar mills in Punjab for allegedly forming a cartel to delay the start of sugarcane crushing and fix the procurement price of cane at Rs400 per maund.
The CCP said that its monitoring revealed that representatives of the mills held a meeting at Fatima Sugar Mills on November 10, 2025, where they collectively decided to begin cane crushing from November 28 instead of the officially directed date. The participants also mutually agreed to offer farmers a uniform price of Rs400 per 40kg.
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The meeting was chaired by Rana Jameel Ahmed Shahid, Resident Director of Fatima Sugar Mills.
Representatives from Shaikho Sugar Mills, Thal Industries Corporation, Tandlianwala Sugar Mills (Rehman Hajra Unit), JK One Sugar Mills, Ashraf Sugar Mills, and Kashmir Sugar Mills attended the meeting in person, while delegates from Siraj Sugar Mills, Two Star Sugar Mills, and Haq Bahu Sugar Mills joined online.
The CCP noted that price-fixing and coordinated business decisions among market competitors constitute a clear violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010.
It added that despite instructions from the Punjab Cane Commissioner directing all sugar mills to start crushing by November 15, the mills colluded to delay the process.
The commission highlighted a significant imbalance in bargaining power between sugar mill owners and farmers, stressing that cane prices should ideally be negotiated independently between each mill and local farmers based on market conditions. Instead, the mills unilaterally fixed the purchase price through coordinated action, disrupting the natural market mechanism.
Based on the evidence, the CCP has directed the mills to submit a written response within 14 days, explaining why legal proceedings should not be initiated against them for entering prohibited agreements, distorting the sugarcane market, and securing undue commercial advantage by delaying crushing.
The commission warned that delaying crushing at the start of the season could reduce sugar supply, leading to artificial shortages and potential increases in retail sugar prices.
