The losses of state-owned Pabna sugar mill continue to increase since its establishment in the mid-90s. The mill started operations this season with a debt of Tk 575 crore.
According to media reports, the sugarcane cultivation around the mill region has decreased by 50 per cent in the last decade as the farmers faced a frequent delay in cane payment.
The mill management expects to produce 6,560 tonnes of sugar by crushing 82,000 tonnes of cane with the recovery not more than 8 per cent.
Md Abdus Selim, managing director of the mill, said, “We have set a target of running mill for 60 to 65 days if sugarcane would be available. The mill’s daily crushing capacity is some 1,500 tonnes, meaning in 100 days about 15,000 tonnes of sugar can be produced.”
According to Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation’s annual report for fiscal 2017-18, country’s 15 state-run sugar mills crushed 11,88,573 tonnes of sugarcane and produced 68,562.50 tonnes of sugar.
