Two sugar mills in KP running under capacity

RECORDER REPORT

PESHAWAR: The sugar mills of Peshawar valley are running under capacity as the growers are reluctant in supplying sugarcane due to severe cold and row over the price of the commodity with mills.

"The supply of sugarcane is very low and we have to run the mills with intervals," Saleem Ghurmani, an official of the PSM Mardan told this scribe.

He said that though they were offering a price of Rs 165 for 40 kg sugarcane against the fixed price of Rs 150, but the growers were still reluctant to supply their crop to the mills. He said that the business of the manufacturing of Ghur was booming and growers preferring the supply of their crop to the Ghur Ghanis.

To a question, the official of the PSM declined to offer further increase in the price in prevailing situation in sugar market. He said that the price of the sugar was continuously on decline. He said presently the supply of sugarcane was very low and the mill was facing the shortage of the commodity. He said that they were storing the one-day on collecting the crop and crushed it next day.

The case of Khazana Sugar Mills (KSM) is also not different and that is also run in intervals. An official of the mills confirmed that due to the lack of sufficient supply the crushing was stopped. He said that they are looking for sufficient supply of the commodity to run the mill.

Meanwhile, sugarcane crushing in four sugar mills of D.I. Khan, another sugarcane growing area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is in full swing. Mohammad Ejaz, an official of Chashma Sugar Mills said that the mills have no problem relating to sugarcane supply as a large number of loaded trolleys were waiting unloading in the parking area of the mills.

The Peshawar valley is known for the production of quality sugarcane and in past there were four sugar mills. The mills were facing tough competition from the parallel Ghur manufacturing industry and due to the less supply of sugarcane two mills included Frontier Sugar Mills (FSM), Takhtbhai and Charsadda Sugar Mills, Charsadda have been closed down.

According to Talih Mand Khan, an official of Khazana Sugar Mills they were facing tough competition from the Ghur manufacturing, which has an attractive market in the tribal region and neighbouring Afghanistan. He was of the view that if the situation remains the same then the remaining two sugar mills would also close down.

It is worth mentioning here that due to the lack of sufficient supply of sugarcane during last two years no crushing season was observed by the two sugar mills of the valley. Every year the growers and mills engage in controversy over the price of the sugarcane. Two years back the sugarcane growers of district Charsadda and Mardan preferred burning their crop over supply to the sugar mills.