The government has decided to allow an export of 200,00tonnesns of sugar till May end this year, the final permission will be granted in the next meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), it was reliably learnt.
This was decided at the meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board, chaired by the Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan.
The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) had sought export of 400,000 tonnes to evade the sugar glut. However, the committee, after detailed deliberations, decided to allow the export of additional 200,000 tonnes of sugar, till May end.
The committee was informed that the PSMA had managed to export only 60,000 tonnes of sugar, out of the 225,000 tonnes approved limit by the ECC in December, last year. The sugar mills blamed it on the delay of notification by the State Bank of Pakistan and closure of the Afghan border as the main reasons for slow exports.
The meeting decided to recommend enhancing the export period for teh earlier quota from mid March to end April. However, all the decisions were subject to the approval of the ECC.
Pakistan, this year, is likely to produce a record 6 million tonnes of sugar as aganinst an annual sugar consumption estimate of 5 million tonnes. The sugar mills want permission to export one million tonnes of sugar. However, the government is unsure as it may cause hike in domestic sugar prices.
