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The crushing season 2006-07 has ended at 3.520 million tons sugar production against 2.650 million tons of pervious year. This time overall recovery rate also remained better basically due to heavy winter rains.
Sources said the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has conveyed to the authorities in writing that the crushing season was over as all the mills have closed down. However, it expects few tons of more sugar to add to the total, which is yet to be reported by a few of its units.
Lifted stocks, as on April 15 stood at 1.5 millions tons, leaving around 2 millions tons unsold stocks with the mills.
After adding Trading Corporation of Pakistan''s (TCP) buffer stocks of around 0.5 million tons total available stocks stood at around 2.5 million tons. At present rate of 0.320 million tons, available tocks will be sufficient for 8 months'' consumption.
The crushing season 2006-07 was different from the previous ones in many ways. It started with some delay in December 2006, when the government struck a deal with PSMA. However, since then both parties are accusing each other of dishonouring their commitment.
It also deepened the growers'' payments issue as several sugar mills either made partial or simply denied the payments to the growers. The mills are using unsold stocks and receding sugar prices as an excuse to deny payments to the growers.
Another peculiar issue that dominated other factors during this crushing was massive use of weigh-bridges and subsequent tax evasion through uninterrupted unregistered buying of sugarcane.
The government agencies, particularly related to checking of the use of weigh- bridges remained totally inactive during the whole season, leaving the growers at the middleman''s mercy for selling produce.
The government had taken serious notice of unregistered buying of sugarcane in 2005-06 and assigned the job of checking the middleman role to the Central Board of Revenue (CBR). However, the plan could not materialised for the reasons better known to the concerned authorities.
This crushing season also did not provide the mills an opportunity to repeat the last year for profiteering. The prices ranged between 30 and 33 rupee against Rs 40 or 42 per kg of the last year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2007

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