Country has enough sugar for 2011, committee told
09 February, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the dip in consumption of sugar, it is expected that there be no need to import sugar in the year 2011. A meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Sugar, chaired by Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Minister for Industries and Production was apprised in this regard that there was around 2 million tonnes of new sugar stock. About 0.733 million tonne sugar has been sold, leaving a balance of 1.293 tonnes. The imported stock with TCP was 0.462 million tonnes to date. As such the total domestic and imported stocks available are around 1.756 million tonnes. The PSMA informed that the sugar production in 2010-11 would be around 3.6 million tonnes. It proposed that the government should build strategic reserves through procurement from the domestic producers, as the sugar was cheapest in Pakistan. So far the private sector has opened LC’s for import of 155,000 tonnes of both white and raw sugar. The raw sugar was imported from India. The Provincial Cane Commissioners assured that the outstanding payments of growers would get cleared at the earliest. The PSMA said that it was incumbent on all the millers to honour all “cane purchase receipts.” The meeting expressed satisfaction over the level of sugar stocks and prevailing price. However, the next meeting will be convened next month in end of March 2011 to gauge the exact and final position of stocks and requirement of imports. The meeting was also attended by Minister for Food and Agriculture, Secretary MINFA, Additional Secretary Industries and Production, Cane Commissioner, Punjab; Cane Commissioner & Director Food KPK, Cane commissioner Sindh and Senior officers of Finance Division, Planning Commission, TCP, USC and representatives of the Central and Provincial PSMA. End.
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