The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) on Wednesday announced end of sugarcane crushing season 2003-04, which took sugar production to 4 million tons for the first time in history.
It is a great achievement by all means for Pakistan at a time when sugar production the world over was showing downward trend. Pakistan needs 3.5 million tons sugar for its domestic needs since the consumption worked out by the experts is slightly less than 0.3 million tons per month.
According to PSMA, 43 million tons sugarcane, worth Rs 45 billion, was crushed at 85 percent capacity utilisation this year. Recovery recorded in 2003-04 was as high as 9.08 percent against 8.66 percent of last year.
All provinces, with the exception of Sindh, showed record production. Punjab was at the top. With 38 working sugar mills, it produced 2.6 million tons sugar.
Sindh's 28 sugar mills produced 1.22 million tons, whereas 5 mills in NWFP produced 0.17 million tons.
Though final figures are still being worked out, the production has crossed the 4.0 million tons mark for the first time.
The recovery improvement played a considerable role as the crop was allowed its maturity due to delay in the crushing season.
The difference is noticeable, and worthy of serious consideration, while forcing mills to start at earlier dates to vacate a small portion of land for addition to over 8.0 million hectares already under wheat cultivation.
The domestic price structure had a serious blow due to the continued glut in the sugar market.
The industry lost over Rs 30 billion during the past 3 years due to crash in the domestic market. The current year shows sugar availability of over 4.70 million tons against maximum consumption of 3.5 million tons. After allowing buffer stock, a considerable surplus is foreseen.
With the current production Pakistan's rating has moved upward among the ten biggest sugar producers in the world.
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