Sugar Advisory Board
Islamabad: A special meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board was held under the co-chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain. The Deputy Prime Minister joined via Zoom while the federal minister attended from the Lahore office of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA). The meeting discussed imported sugar, the closure of the S-Track/FBR portals and other sectoral issues. A PSMA spokesman said the industry told the meeting that the government’s policy of preferentially selling imported sugar — and the closure of FBR portals for local mills — is responsible for rising prices and low market availability. With portals closed for about three weeks, mills are reportedly unable to supply local sugar to the market and are facing severe cash-flow constraints and repayment problems on bank loans. Industry representatives said they had repeatedly warned the government about the impacts of portal closures and opposed unnecessary imports; nevertheless, roughly 300,000 tonnes of sugar were imported. The association said government difficulties in selling imported sugar led to the sidelining of local producers and closure of portals for domestic sales, disrupting supply of higher-quality local sugar. The PSMA blamed dealers and profiteers — not the mills — for the recent price surge and shortages in many areas. DNA
