Shah Alam Nur :
Some 1.41 lakh tonnes of sugar worth Tk 522 crore remain unsold in 15 state-owned sugar mills across the country, leaving the mills in a difficult situation to even pay the farmers who supplied sugarcane to the mills.
The sugar remained stockpiled, as the dealers are reluctant to purchase sugar from state-run mills. Rather, they prefer imported sugar as it is much cheaper than the local one, Yakub Ali, a dealer told The New Nation on Saturday.
He added the rate of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) is Tk 37 per kg at Mill gate whereas it is now available in the retail market at Tk 35/36 a kg. Besides, he said, consumers also prefer imported sugar and that of private mills.
The market has been captured by imported sugar, as the quality of imported sugar is much better than the local one, Yakub said.
According to Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), North Bengal Sugar Mills at Gopalpur in Natore has the highest quantity of 21,360 MT unsold sugar followed by Mobarakganj Sugar Mills at Naldanga in Jhenaidah and Keru and Company (BD) at Darshana in Chuadnaga with 14,831.55 MT and 14,831.55 MT respectively.
Thakurgaon Sugar Mills has a stock of 12,738.65 MT unsold sugar, Rajshahi Sugar Mills 11,191.50 MT, Natore Sugar Mills 11,133.55 MT, Pabna Sugar Mills 9,357.90 MT, Kushtia Sugar Mills 8,795.95 MT, Panchagarh Sugar Mills 8,474.90 MT, Faridpur Sugar Mills 8,289.55 MT, Setabaganj Sugar Mills in Dinajpur 7,834.35 MT, Joypurhat Sugar Mills 7,672.50 MT, Rangpur Sugar Mills 6,393.85 MT, Shyampur Sugar Mills in Rangpur 1,281 MT and Zil Bangla Sugar Mills 1,210.70 MT.
“Huge sugar lying unsold at the mill’s warehouses as the importers set the prices lower than the state-owned mills,” Managing Director of Thakurgaon Sugar Mill SM Abdul Aziz said.
He said salary disbursement and payment to cane growers became irregular as the unsold sugar led to the mill’s fund crisis.
“The government, especially the Industries Ministry, along with the BSFIC has been doing their best to bring back the past glory of the mills,” Aziz said.
Besides, he said, the authorities of the expressed concern as the farmers are showing a tendency to sell their sugarcanes to local illegal molasses producers as they get better price of sugarcanes from them.
“As the dealers are unwilling to purchase sugar from the mills, the stockpiles of sugar have been bulging day by day,” said an official of BSFIC, preferring anonymity.
He said even after several sales campaigns and discount offers on several occasions, hardly any dealer showed up to purchase sugar from the mills.
The 15 sugar mills incurred a loss of about Tk 522 crore in fiscal 2014-15, Tk 564 crore in fiscal 2013-14, Tk 310 crore in fiscal 2012-13, while the loss was Tk 290.01 crore in fiscal 2011-12.
