ISLAMABAD: The Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) meeting, on Thursday, failed to decide on the export of refined sugar and agreed to meet again after Eid ul Fitr holidays to further deliberate on the matter.
The board meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Rana Tanveer Hussain which was also attended by other stakeholders including Pakistan Sugar Mills Associations (PSMA) to discuss and review the sugar stock availability, current market prices, sugarcane rates, present global market sugar prices, and industry production cost.
During the meeting, the representatives of the PSMA informed the government officials that Pakistan at present has around 1.6 million tons of additional sugar which should be exported.
SAB allows export of up to half a million tons of sugar
The PSMA delegation suggested the government to export up to one million tons of refined sugar in the first phase which will bring around $650-700 million foreign exchange for the country and the rest of the 0.6 million tons of sugar be exported in two phases in May and June 2024.
The meeting was informed that last year sugarcane price was Rs350 per 40kg which now has reached Rs450 per 40kg and the production cost of sugar at present stands at Rs170 per kg while in the retail market, refined sugar was available in the range of Rs145-150 per kg which is the lowest price in the world.
The PSMA delegation also informed the government that if the government did not allow sugar export it would result in the smuggling of the commodity to Iran, Afghanistan, and other countries as a result, the country would be deprived of precious foreign exchange while smugglers would take advantage of the situation.
The PSMA officials said locally, the sugar production price was around $503 per ton while in the international market, it stands at $650 per tonne, therefore, export permission will benefit both the industry and the country. The meeting was further informed that in Pakistan industrial use of sugar stands at 85percent and the rest 15 percent was domestic use. Moreover, 18 percent general sales tax (GST) was imposed on sugar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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