The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh Suger Mills Corporation (BSMC) is posed to incur a loss to the tune Tk 207 crore equivalent to $ 30 million in the current season due to low prices of the product, despite a higher production, offcial sources said.

The state-owned BSMC, is likely to produced 175,000 tonnes of sugar, which is 6.0 per cent higher than the previous year, in the current sugarcane crushing season that would end in April.

The corporation, which manages 14 state-owned sugar mills incurred a loss of nearly Tk 152 crore or $ 22 millions last year, according to a Reuters dispatch yesterday.

"We will face more than $30 million loss this year, if sugar prices don't rise," Kabir M. Ashraf Alam, Chairman of the state-owned Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), told the foreign news agency.

The 14 state-owned sugar mills in Bangladesh have so far produced 110,000 tonnes of sugar this season and production will continue until the middle of April, he said.

The production of sugar would reach 175,000 tonnes this year against 165,000 tonnes last year, Ashraf Alam said.

The country produced 133,000 tonnes of sugar in 2004-05 (May-April), another official said.

Bangladesh, which largely depends on state and private sector import of sugar against annual demand of 1.2 million tonnes, levies a duty of Tk 4,000 (US $58) and Tk 5,000 ($73) on imports of raw and white sugar respectively.

But Ashraf Alam wants the authorities to increase sugar import duty to protect the state-owned sugar crushing mills, which now face a huge loss due to lower prices in retail market.

"We have requested the government to increase white sugar import duty to 10,000 taka ($145) per tonne to prevent dumping from India," Alam said.

The corporation has been forced to lower its wholesale price to Tk 25 per kg against a production cost of Tk 39 per kg. Sugar is selling in local retail market at Tk 36 per kg.