KARACHI, March 1: The sugarcane growers in Sindh are not getting payments for their produce from the mills which claim to be facing an acute liquidity problem because they are not getting government-ensured price for white refined sugar and face long delays in payments from the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).

The expected bumper cane crop during the ongoing crushing season is of around 50 million tons which is likely to yield around 4.5 to 5 million tons of white refined sugar, taking the total available stocks to around 5.5 to 6 million tons.

After meeting the domestic demand of around 3.8 million tons, there would still be a surplus of over two million tons.

Therefore, higher sugar production by mills was not only causing a financial burden, but also depressing price in the open market, which is Rs23 per kg.

An analyst said that the sugar industry was presently in a vicious circle, as there was a plenty of cane to crush, but low sugar price hardly meets the production cost.

Nevertheless, whatever the difficulties are being faced by the mills, the question is why growers have to suffer because of long delays in payments against their produce.

Ghulam Nabi Morai, president, Sindh Farmers Association, told Dawn that growers were holding protest rallies in various towns for non-payment and long delays in payments for cane being lifted by the mills.

He said that the situation might further aggravate, if the government did not intervene. Though the government had fixed support price for cane at Rs63 per 40kg, the growers were not getting more than Rs55 to Rs60 (ex-mill), he added.

Therefore, the actual price which the growers in Sindh were getting was not more than Rs43 per 40kg because they incur Rs12 on transportation and harvesting of the produce.

He stated that as there was no control over fast rising prices of inputs, the growers continue to face financial challenges, and in a way the agriculture sector had been subsidising urban population.

Fertiliser prices were soaring and only a month back, DAP fertiliser was costing Rs2,200 per bag, but now it costs around Rs2,700.

He urged the authorities to chalk out an extensive agriculture plan for the entire country, based on economies of scale, and the government should only allow crops where they are best suited.

Mohammad Kasim Hasham, a leading sugar manufacturer of Sindh, told Dawn that so far around 3,400,000 tons of white refined sugar had been produced in the country. However, with a bumper cane crop, sugar production in the country would achieve a historic level of around 4.8 to 5 million tons.

He urged the government to ensure a level-playing field so that the country gets a better price in the world market, prior to the entry of Brazil in the market which had surplus stocks and depressed prices.

Mr Hasham said a nominal quantity of sugar was being exported, because there was a tough competition in the world market.

Official sources said that the TCP had lifted around 358,967 tons of sugar from mills at an average price of Rs22,400 per ton so far, and issued another tender for 50,000 tons.