Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has ordered to take action against such sugar mills which were not bringing the newly crushed sweetener in the open market to keep its prices high and manipulating the sugar estimates to create panic in the market and asked all the DCOs to ensure the smooth and regular supply of sugar in the market.
Punjab Minister Haji Ehsan-uddin Qureshi told newsmen here on Sunday. The minister dispelled this impression that sugar millers with the collusion of the provincial government are not bringing the newly crushed sweetener in the open market to earn maximum profit by keeping its prices high and manipulating the sugar estimates to create panic the market. He said that 83 functional sugar mills in Punjab, Sindh and NWFP have so far produced one million tons of sugar by crushing nearly 10 million tons of sugarcane from an estimated cane crop of 47 million tons, as per reports sent by the mills to the respective provincial cane commissioners, which reveals that from the one million tons of sugar produced, 0.6 million tons was made by the mills in Punjab.
The minister said that the government was taking measures to reduce the gap between the prices of the market and Utility Stores and trying to bring down the sugar prices in the market to the level of Rs 45.
Still long queues are also seen in front of the Utility Stores selling subsidised sugar to the masses, while the sugar produced by the millers is not coming in the market in a big way to suppress prices through increased supply that would surpass the demand. Sugar is currently available at Rs63 to 70 per kg that too in crushing season when normally higher supply causes prices to ebb.
Record produced before a meeting held with the secretary finance the other day revealed that one million tons of sugar produced, 0.6 million tons was made by the mills in Punjab, 0.3 million tones in Sindh and the remaining 0.1 million in NWFP, but all the provincial governments are deliberately not pressing the millers to bring their fresh stocks in the market, claimed another official who attended the meeting but requested not to be named.
The government is committed to ensuring sufficient supply of sugar for the consumers, said Javid Malik Additional Secretary Ministry of Industries & Production told this correspondent and elucidated that USC is buying from the local sugar mills and TCP from international market. To a question about the millers' demand of supplying sugar at Rs 64 per kg to the USC, Malik said, "They will not be offered this inflated rate and the government will only give reasonable price to the millers."
To another question of not bringing the fresh stocks in the open market, Javid Malik said that it is the job of the provincial government and they (provincial governments) are not intervening, the federal government cannot act on their behalf of bringing the fresh stocks in the local markets.
The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet has directed the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) to purchase half a million tons of sugar directly from the local mills for its countrywide outlets. But the finance ministry and PSMA have differences over the purchase price. Muhammad Khan Saddozai, Chief Executive of Layyah Sugar Mills and a member of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has told the ministry of finance that the mills were reporting less recovery of sweetener from the sugarcane as compared to last year.
The sugar mills are claiming decline in refined sugar yield from the cane to show less production of the sugar, actually they are trying to hoodwink the people by cutting supplies to keep rates high, said another MoIP official adding that the mills are not disclosing the correct figures of sugar stock.
The rate of sugar recovery depends on the start of crushing season. If crushing starts late the millers would benefit with higher recovery of sugar if it started earlier they have less recovery. This year the crushing started in the second week of December and with maximum recovery but the millers are reporting an average recovery of 7.8 per cent when compared with the last year's of 8.52 per cent, said a brief of the millers.
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