In a statement issued here on Tuesday, a PSMA spokesman said everyday passing in stalemate was increasing cost of sugar production and was bound to be serious cause of considerable losses to the Sindh sugar industry, which was already in dire financial state.
He said presently four sugar mills of Sindh, two in north and two in south, were functioning piecemeal, due to insignificant sugarcane supplies and would in a couple of days, come to grinding halt, as some sugar mills of Sindh fared to begin sugarcane crushing season 2005-06.
In Sindh, 28 sugar sills are poised for functioning during 2005-06 season as in the previous year, he added.
Sugar mills of Sindh timely readied their facilities to commence sugarcane crushing from second week of current month November 2005, as desired by the Government of Sindh.
Most of the sugar mills fired their boilers in appropriate sequence to bring energy on line and mobilised manpower to start sugarcane crushing well in the officially prescribed time frame.
However, keeping in view inadequate work force with farmers to harvest sugarcane and transport to haul sugarcane from farms to factories, the sugar mills had to stagger beginning of their operations so that sugarcane supply can gather steady momentum ensuring economic functioning. Apprehensions of sugar mills about inadequacy of sugarcane supplies at specified time to begin sugarcane-crushing campaign ironically have proved true.
Seri Sugar Mills starting operations from October 23 through November 02, 2005 could get a token volume of sugarcane and had to stop its uneconomic working.
Likewise, three other sugar mills, namely Sanghar Sugar Mills, Habib Sugar Mills, Al-Noor Sugar Mills and some more attempted to get steadily on stream but had to stop working, like trial operations, due to non-availability of sugarcane.