Sugar mills complete 80pc of cane crushing

ISLAMABAD: Sugar mills have completed 80 percent of cane crushing and that adds to the carryover stocks to ensure sufficient availability of sweetener in the coming months, officials said on Monday.

Officials of the ministry of industries and production told the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) that approximately 80 percent crushing of sugarcane has been completed during the current season. The carryover stocks plus the latest crushing would ensure sufficient availability of sugar in the coming months.

Minister for Finance and Revenue Hafeez Shaikh chaired the weekly meeting of NPMC. Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Razak Dawood, and others attended the meeting.

The industries ministry further requested the respective provincial governments to provide projections regarding the future sugar requirement for effective planning during the year.

Despite usual uncertainty about crushing season start in November, sugar production has continued to show upward trend. This growth was due to the government realising the impact of sugar industry on large scale manufacturing (LSM) growth and having resolved matters to remove barriers in timely crushing. In December, sugar production surged 30.2 percent year on year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

LSM that makes 80 percent of industrial sector in Pakistan posted 8.16 percent growth in the first half of the current fiscal year and grew 11.4 percent year on year in December and 13.5 percent over November.

Shaikh urged the provincial governments and departments concerned to take all necessary administrative measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of regulated wheat flour throughout the country. He further directed the provincial and district administrations to proactively monitor the prices of essential commodities to avoid hoarding and black marketing effectively.

NPMC further reviewed the price trend of essential commodities especially wheat flour, eggs, chicken, sugar and edible oil during the week.

Secretary finance briefed the committee about weekly sensitive price indicator (SPI) that recorded a slight increase of 0.81 percent, whereas prices of six items decreased and 21 items remained stable during the last week. Secretary of food ministry updated the NPMC about availability of sufficient stock of wheat across the country. He expressed satisfaction over the average per day releases by the provinces, which were stable throughout the country.

The committee was apprised about the arrangements being made for immediate lifting of 20,000 wheat from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation to ensure smooth supply in Balochistan.

Minister Azhar lauded the Utility Stores Corporations for covering more than five percent of the consumer demand for essential items at subsidised rates across the country. The NPMC directed PBS to workout ranking of the districts with reference to price control so that provincial governments can take necessary actions accordingly.