Sugar glut threatens crushing season, warns PSMA

The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has asked the government to quickly approve exports of at least 1 million tonnes of sugar, according to Dawn. The PSMA warned that unless the surplus is cleared, mills may postpone the start of the 2026-27 crushing season. Chairman Zaka Ashraf made the appeal at a press conference in Lahore on Wednesday.

Zaka Ashraf said output of 7.7 million tonnes in the 2025-26 season, plus 271,000 tonnes carried over, brings available stock to almost 8 million tonnes. Monthly domestic demand of roughly 560,000 tonnes leaves a projected surplus of about 1.25 million tonnes by November 15. Authorities have so far allowed 108,000 tonnes of imported sugar and 200,000 tonnes of local sugar to be shipped abroad, which the association calls inadequate.

Exporting the surplus, the association argues, would clear stocks, protect the industry and bring in foreign exchange. Ashraf described sugar as the country's second-largest agro-based industry, generating over Rs1 trillion in yearly business and about Rs300bn in taxes. He also said about 70pc of sugar sold to commercial and industrial buyers is deregulated, while domestic sugar remains under price and payment controls, and called for full deregulation along with trade in both imports and exports.