LAHORE: General body of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (North Zone) has urged the government to allow immediate export of surplus sugar to safeguard the interests of sugarcane farmers and to save the sugar industry from heavy losses and enabling it to timely commence the upcoming crushing season.
Exporting surplus sugar can fetch much-needed foreign exchange to the tune of nearly USD620 million, sugar millers claimed at a general body meeting of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (North Zone) held at Lahore Wednesday, which was presided over by North Zone Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam. Members from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated.
Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam said the government promised in writing on July 14, 2025 to allow export of surplus sugar above 7 million metric tons of sugar within a month of close of 2025-26 crushing season and subsequently also promised to completely deregulate the sugar sector like other industries by June 2026 and to remove restrictions on export and import of sugar. Unfortunately, all these promises have not been fulfilled yet, he alleged.
PSMA Members stated that Pakistan’s sugar industry produced more sugar than domestic needs during the 2025-26 crushing season while the industry is facing serious difficulties in this regard. With domestic consumption of 6.6 million metric tons of sugar out of the existing stock of 7.9 MMT of sugar, a surplus of 1.3 million metric tons of sugar is available.
The participants further said that some government quarters are once again trying to understate the surplus sugar reserves by manipulating relevant data without considering its serious implications on the 2026-27 crushing season and our economy. Seven and a half months have passed and only four and a half months are left in the next season, and there is a huge surplus stock of sugar available above domestic requirements.
It was a consensus view that sugar mills are selling sugar at an ex-mill rate of less than Rs 135 per kg, much below their cost of production, and if export permission is not given then millions of sugarcane farmers will be directly affected. With an estimated 20 percent increase in sugarcane crop next year, it will be difficult for the farmers to get a fair price. The surplus reserves will carry onto the next season as well, forcing sugar mills to delay the start of the next crushing season.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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