By Muhammad Asad Tahir Bhawana ISLAMABAD, April 08 (INP-WealthPK): Former federal minister for finance and revenue Shaukat Tareen has said Pakistan is likely to produce 7.5 million tonnes of sugar this year, compare to 5.5 million tonnes produced last year, thus making the country a ‘sugar surplus’ country. Mr Tareen also said that the ex-mill sugar prices were also down around Rs81 per kilogramme compared to the previous year when prices were Rs86 per kilogramme, according to WealthPK. Meanwhile, according to the annual report of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) 2021, the sugar industry faced setbacks because the government was misinformed that the recovery of sugar was at 10.5%, and that the early start of the crushing season will lead to timely cultivation of wheat crop. Because of this misleading information, the sugar mills were told to start crushing 20 days earlier than the date mentioned in the Sugar Factory Control Act. Consequently, 167,530 tonnes of sugar worth $106 million was lost because of the lower level of recovery of 0.95% as compared to last year. The recovery, which should normally be 10.5%, will remain as low as 7%, leading to uncertainty and price hikes in the sugar market. Another reason for the price hike is the cartelisation of the sugar mafia, which the authorities have vowed to eliminate to remove the possibility of farmers’ exploitation and blackmailing of the government. After the setback in the previous year, the government is now expecting a surplus in sugar production, which will ultimately lead to a lower price in the local market and increase sugar exports. Pakistan stands at the 9th position among the top 10 sugar producers globally with 4.88 million metric tonnes of production. Pakistan is also the 8th largest consumer of sugar, with a consumption of 5.28 million metric tonnes. In Pakistan, the sugar industry is now well-established and is operating at around 70% of its capacity. The present industrial capacity can mill at least 70 million tonnes per year. Based on irrigation water availability and rainfall, cane production fluctuates between 45 million and 65 million tonnes per year. Pakistan needs to focus on the sugar industry to satisfy the local demand and make it export-oriented. The farmers must be incentivised through different policies to increase yield. Provision of advanced machinery to modernise the agriculture sector must be the topmost priority of the government.