ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has urged the government to allow export of 500,000 tonnes of sugar immediately and overall up to 1.5 million tonnes to compete with India.
PSMA Chairman Iskandar Khan, after the meeting with Commerce Secretary, said that the millers were struggling to process sugar and sell it locally because of a bumper crop, but would be shipping into a global market already burdened by oversupply.
He added that, in total, producers sought to export up to 1.5 million tonnes of sugar, but did not specify whether it would be raw or processed.
“How are mills expected to start crushing when surplus stocks from the last crop are still lying around?” Khan asked. Pakistan’s commerce ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The Indian Sugar Mills Association, a body of private sugar mills, estimated in September that the country’s production this season will rise to around 25 million tonnes.
