ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has urged the federal government to immediately permit the export of 585,000 tonnes of sugar.

They warn that mills may struggle to buy sugarcane from farmers in the upcoming crushing season unless surplus sugar is exported, saying the country would have over 1.15 million tonnes of excess stock by mid-November.

In separate letters sent to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Monday, the association said reconciled figures agreed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the sugar industry showed that sugar stocks stood at 3.4m tonnes as of July 15.

According to the PSMA, with average monthly consumption of 567,426 tonnes, the country will still have a surplus of 1.158m tonnes by the start of the crushing season on Nov 15.

The association said another bumper sugarcane crop was expected this year, with sugar production projected to exceed eight million tonnes, well above domestic consumption requirements.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2026