The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has said the widening communication gap between the government and the sugar industry is escalating misunderstanding on either side with every passing day. In a press statement here on Wednesday, a spokesman of the PSMA said it was totally baseless to say that the sugar industrialists had formed a cartel in the country. He stated that the cash flow of sugar mills had been badly affected, due to surplus landing of imported sugar in the country.
"The situation has further aggravated with the active sale of procured sugar by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan through utility stores for Rs 23 per kg," the statement added.
Highlighting the discriminatory treatment towards the sugar industry, he said the prices of cement and steel had almost doubled during the last two years, but the government had never brought down import duty on both the items.
He said the sugarcane growers in Punjab and Sindh had received Rs 80 and Rs 100 per 40 kg as compared to government's fixed price of Rs 40 and Rs 43, respectively, during this crushing season.
"The sugar industry is proud of bringing prosperity to the rural life despite the fact that heavy sugarcane price has badly disturbed the production cost, as the sugarcane price covers 80 to 90 percent cost of production," he added.-PR
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