HYDERABAD: Sindh government has fixed rate of sugar cane at Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes and asked sugar factories to start crushing from Nov 30, accepting two major demands of growers’ organisations.

Growers’ leaders have hailed the decision and called off the sit-in they had planned to stage on the National Highway on Dec 4 to make the government accept their demands.

Of the 38 sugar mills of the province, five in Ghotki district had already ignited boilers on Tuesday and one mill in Badin fired up its boiler on Wednesday to win subsidy of Rs10.70 per 1kg announced by federal government on sugar export.

According to Sindh Cane Commissioner Agha Zaheer, sugar cane rate was decided and announced in a meeting of Sindh Sugarcane Control Board attended by representatives of growers and sugar millers in Karachi on Wednesday.

The meeting was chaired by Sindh Minister for Agriculture Sohail Anwar Siyal and a notification in this regard would be issued by Thursday morning after approval by Sindh chief minister.

Growers’ organisations have called off their protest sit-in scheduled for Dec 4 at a section of National Highway in Hyderabad following the decision, according to Sindh Chamber of Agriculture general secretary Zahid Bhurgari.

It is the fourth time the Sindh government has come up with Rs182/40kg cane rate.

It was first fixed in 2014-15 season but in the following season of 2015-16 it was revised downwards to Rs172/40kg, prompting growers’ bodies to challenge it in Sindh High Court. The matter is still pending adjudication.

“Agriculture minister talked to millers separately as well in today’s meeting in order to ‘convince’ them to start crushing now.

We had told the minister in clear terms that growers will not agree to any rate less than Rs182,” said a grower leader.

Under the amended Sugar Factories Control Act, a sugar mill ‘shall’ start crushing by a date not later than Nov 30.

Before the amendment, mills were supposed to start crushing in October and that was why cane producers keep demanding that crushing date should be notified in October.

The amendment made by PPP government has put millers in a somewhat comfortable position as far as start of crushing season is concerned.

Sindh Abadgar Board vice-president Mahmood Nawaz Shah hailed the decision and said it showed that Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) had been unnecessarily clamouring over the issue.

He argued that even at a recent press conference Javed Kayani, central chairman of PSMA, did not raise eyebrows over the rate of Rs180/40kg announced by Punjab government or the Sindh’s growers’ demand for Rs182/40kg.

“Kayani only pressed the point of permission for export of three million tonnes of sugar.

But it was only PSMA Sindh body that had made Rs182/40kg a bone of contention,” he said.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on the recommendation of Council of Common Interests (CCI) had on Tuesday allowed export of 1.5 million tonnes sugar with a subsidy of Rs10.70/1kg.

It was, however, not confirmed whether the 1.5 million tonnes included export of 500,000 tonnes which was allowed earlier or it was in addition to it. PSMA also wanted the federal government to increase subsidy to Rs18 to Rs19 per 1kg.

“We recorded our protest in the meeting when agriculture minister announced rate of Rs182/40 for 2017-18 season,” Asim Ghani, PSMA Sindh zone chairman told Dawn over phone.

Mr Ghani did not explain his point further. He had earlier been opposing the rate of Rs182 on the ground that millers could not even recover cost of per kg sugar production at that rate.

PSMA Sindh zone has been crying hoarse against delays by federal government in permission for sugar export with increased subsidy.

It had placed an advertisement that it would be paying Rs125/40kg if surplus sugar stocks were not cleared.

PSMA central body was asking government last year in December to allow them export of sugar without subsidy but government did not accede to their request.

In July this year, export of 300,000 tonnes sugar was allowed against demand of 1.2m tonnes. But according to PSMA since then international market price has dropped substantially and that is why they need subsidy.

The millers’ association expects production of sugar to eight million tonnes this year due to bumper cane crop.

Sindh’s sugar cane rate is conventionally higher than that of Punjab by a few rupees due to better sucrose recovery.

Punjab government had already fixed rate at Rs180/40kg for 2017-18 crushing season and Punjab’s PSMA did not raise any objection to it. It was only in Sindh where sugar millers have been resisting the rate at one or the other pretext.

This year’s surplus sugar production in Sindh, according to SCA vice president Nabi Bux Sathio, is largely due to the fact that millers had procured sugar cane from Punjab in 2016-17 season in anticipation of the fact that the sweetener’s market price would rise and they would earn more profit.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2017