HYDERABAD: Five sugar factories have started crushing – four in upper and one in lower Sindh – till Wednesday to mark the beginning of sugar cane crushing season 2025-26.

Still, the majority of sugar mills have not commenced crushing amidst growers’ reservations over much-talked about deregulation of sugar market.

Only one sugar factory – out of Ghotki’s five – has not started crushing but four others have done it. Sanghar’s sugar factory has also commenced it. The Sindh government has not fixed sugar cane’s indicative price this year again in view of conditions attached to the loan programme by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Unconfirmed reports indicate that no rate would be fixed this year again although the government has announced wheat crop’s support price of Rs3,500 this season.

Sugar factories are said to have decided to pay a rate of Rs400 per 40kg for sugar cane crop’s procurement from farmers. This price may go upward during the course of the crushing season dependent on supplies crop by growers.

No meeting of the Sugarcane Control Board was yet confirmed after a previous one remained inconclusive. Sugar cane’s price was not fixed in the last season (2024-25) as well. The Sugar Factories Control Act 1950 — amended in 2009 —says that crushing would begin not later than Nov 30. In the pre-amended law, the crushing season was, however, supposed to begin on Oct 1 and end on June 30.

“No notification is yet issued for price fixation while notification for the commencement of crushing was already issued by government,” said an agriculture department official dealing with sugar cane crop. He said that reports indicate over two dozen sugar factories have fired their boilers which mean they would be starting crushing soon.

Sindh Abadgar Board president Mahmood Nawaz Shah has questioned much talked about deregulation of the sugar industry. “The deregulation at the cost of farmers’ rights is just not acceptable to us. We will respond to it definitelym” he argued and said if it was indeed deregulation then why was the government was not allowing export of sugar.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2025