Nauman Ahmed Khan, managing director of sugar producer Almoiz Industries, told the Dubai sugar conference that Pakistan's exportable surplus is likely to decline in the 2018/19 season and the industry would have to work hard to keep up with rising local demand.

In late January Pakistan increased the amount of sugar eligible for export subsidies to 2 million tonnes from 500,000 tonnes in an effort to reduce excess supplies.

"There is high chance that farmers will reduce the sugar cane area for the 2018/2019 crushing season. Local sugar prices have been depressed because of oversupply and even if all the export permissions are availed, some surplus will still be carried into next year," he said.

Khan said that production in 2018/19 could be about 6.3 million tonnes, down from 7.5 million tonnes in 2017/18.

Domestic consumption was about 5.8 million tonnes in 2017/18, he added.

Khan said that Pakistan is well positioned to export sugar, with a lot of supplies shipped to East Africa, all across East Asia and to the Middle East.