The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has written to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, seeking immediate permission to export surplus sugar from the country.
The PSMA said that sugar stocks stood at 3.4 million metric tonnes as of July 15. It added that the country's average monthly sugar consumption is 567,000 metric tonnes.
According to the association, about 1.158 million metric tonnes of sugar will still be in stock at the start of the next crushing season. It also said that a bumper sugarcane crop is expected next season, with sugar production likely to reach about 8 million metric tonnes, exceeding domestic demand.
The letter said the sugarcane sowing season in September is approaching, but farmers are uncertain about planting the new crop because surplus sugar has not been allowed for export.
The PSMA urged the government to grant immediate permission to export 585,000 tonnes of surplus sugar. It also requested that sugar kept as strategic reserves should be allowed for export within one month of the start of the new crushing season.
