Pakistan looks to import more sugar from India

New Delhi: Pakistan is looking towards India to import additional sugar to meet a domestic shortfall. Pakistan purchased around 200,000 tonnes of sugar from India earlier this year and the amount could reach 300,000 tonnes by the end of September, government sources here said.

"Selling sugar is not a problem. There is a huge demand," Atul Chaturvedi, president of Adani Exports, was quoted by the media as saying. India is expected to export more than 1m tonnes of sugar till September this year, with a large shipment meant for Pakistan. A total of 325,000 tonnes of sugar, mainly from Indian mills, was booked during January to March by the Pakistani traders. The prices were between $470 and $485 per tonne.

Pakistan, which devours 3.8m tonnes of sugar a year, has been a steady buyer in the international market due to fall in output to 2.6m tonnes this year from 3.2m tonnes last year with farmers switching to other crops for better returns.

-Agencies
Economic Times
May 08, 2006