KARACHI, Oct 18: Four sugar mills in Sindh are planning to start crushing from November 1 ahead of the official date (November 10) to grab maximum quantities of cane in view of 30 per cent short crop, growers said.

The short cane production may trigger a tug of war among the mills which would resultantly push up sugarcane prices above the official rate of Rs81 per maund.

Sindh Chamber of Agriculture Secretary Anwer Bacchani told Dawn that the mills - Matiari, Tharparker, Najma (Jhudo) and Mehran – would benefit from early crushing as they would get large quantities of cane to produce sugar to sell at high prevailing prices in the retail market.

He, however, said that the growers were in two minds whether to sell to sugar mills, which still have not paid cane dues amounting to about Rs864 million. The defaulting mills were given two deadlines and now court cases would be filed against them not making payments.

Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Sindh Zone, chairman Shunid Qureshi while talking to Dawn said that he had no knowledge of early crushing by some mills.

He said that all the 32 sugar mills in the province would start crushing on November 10, notified by the Sindh government.

He dispelled fears among the mills about short sugarcane crop and said that crop size varied year to year and mills had to adjust their production as per the crop size.

Meanwhile, Sindh Cane Commissioner Nazeer Jamali, after consultation with all stakeholders, had revised up transport charges for carrying cane from the field to the sugar mills due to increase in diesel price, effective from October 17.

According to the new transport rates the increase ranges from Rs1.80 for a mile to Rs6.02 for a maximum distance of 70 miles.

The distance-wise transport charges slab is Rs6.72 against Rs4.92 last year for a mile and Rs19.56 for a distance of 70 miles against Rs13.54 last year.

The new rates fixed in consultation with representatives of the growers and sugar mills came into effect from October 17.

According to the rules the trucks are arranged to fetch cane from the fields by the mills, which deduct the fare from the cane dues of the growers.