KARACHI, Jan 2: Sugarcane prices jumped to Rs100 per maund from Rs81 fixed by the government at the start of the current crushing season, which witnessed 29 sugar mills in action out of total 31 in Sindh, growers revealed on Thursday.
They said higher prices include transportation charges normally to be paid by growers but is being paid by mills to attract farmers amid a cane-starved season.
The high price at Rs100 per maund is in contrast with the previous season when growers did not even get Rs45-50 for a maund against the official prices of Rs63 later extended to Rs67.
Cane Commissioner Nazeer Jamali foresaw no problems for growers during the current crushing season, which is said to the growers market.
Last season, mill owners did not pay Rs1.6 billion cane dues to growers. They are bound to clear their dues now as they would be refused supplies without clearing old accounts.
“The mills owners are knocking at the door of the grower with cash in hand to obtain enough cane from a crop which is 40 per cent less than the last year,” Mr Jamali added.
Last year, the growers, who struggled hard to get a bumper crop did not get ‘Rs63 per maund the official price fixed by the government. Consequently, they shifted to the other cash crops like cotton and wheat.
According to figures released by the Cane Commissioner’s office 180,372 tons sugar was produced by all mills in operation up to Dec 31. The total cane crushed by as many as 25 mills stood at 87,753.506 tons.
The cane commissioner told Dawn that out of the total 31 mills two sugar mills namely, Kiran and Larh did not come into production for various reasons, including non-availability of cane in their areas.
Meanwhile, four mills in Thatta and Badin region have reported working on half of their capacity. Their present daily crushing is at 100,000 maund compared to their capacity of 200,000 maund daily.
Jamali forecasts a short crushing season this year ending by end -February or early March because of short crop compared to last season, which had stretched until April.
The country had record sugar production of 1.6 million tons last year which is likely to drop by 40 per cent according to cautious estimates.
Despite a short crop, the sucrose content of the cane being crushed ranges between nine to 10 per cent against an average of eight to nine per cent.
Chairman, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (Sindh Zone) Wajid Arain told Dawn that mills were not working on full capacity due to shortage of sugarcane.
He attributed the shortage to some vested interest among the growers, who withhold supplies in the hope of price increase. This attitude results in an abnormal increase in cane prices.
Pointing to another problem, Wajid said that sugar production has been severely affected in five to six mills due to a cane virus which prevents formation of grains in the final product.
The virus cuts the sugar production to 300-400 tons from a normal production of 1000 to 2000 tons by a mill.