June 21, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1429

LAHORE, June 20: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Punjab zone, on Thursday said that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) cancelled two tenders for purchase of sugar from mills.

A spokesman of the PSMA said the TCP move was creating uncertainty in the market. “This bureaucratic attitude is damaging relations between the sugar mills and the TCP,” he added.

The provincial chairman of PSMA is making efforts to contact TCP Chairman Abdul Malik but he has not succeeded so far.The PSMA appealed to the prime minister to immediately intervene and get the two scrapped tenders of TCP for purchase of sugar re-floated so that sugar prices in the market could stabilise.

He said due to the mishandling of the situation and cancellation of tenders, sugar market had crashed and as a result the buyers were reluctant to buy sugar.

The spokesman claimed that the sugar market had started to stabilise when previous finance minister and chairman of secretaries committee on sugar Ishaq Dar announced to purchase 250,000 tons of sugar from the mills.

The spokesman appealed to the prime minister to direct the TCP to immediately start lifting surplus sugar from the mills so that sugar industry may overcome the liquidity crunch and clear the payments due to the sugarcane growers.