Sugar prices are likely to decrease gradually this year as 80 percent sugarcane is being used in the crushing of sugar as compared to only 50 percent during the corresponding period last year, said Dr Qadir Bakhsh Baloch, spokesman of Ministry of Food and Agriculture on Thursday.
Talking to private TV channel, the spokesman said according to the estimates, around 3.4 million tonnes of sugar would be produced this year in the country as the crushing season is likely to end during the current month. He informed that the country's requirements are around 4.2 million tonnes. Pakistan has last year's carried forward stocks of about 8 million tonnes also. So far, around 2.65 million tonnes of sugar has already been produced as the crushing season still continues, while 2.25 million sugar was produced during the corresponding period last year.
Moreover, sugar import targets are likely to be revisited and import of sugar may be confined to around 500,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes only as the import orders have already been under process, he added. Earlier, the government had decided to import over 1.2 million tonnes sugar, which are most likely to be revisited as the estimates were based on last years' estimates when only 50 percent sugarcane was used in the sugar production as compared to 80 percent during the current year.
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