The sugar production at the mills run by the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) has reached a 23-year low due to fall in sugarcane supply, reports The Daily Star.
The current retail price of sugar has reached around Tk 140 per kg.
The state-run mills have produced 21,313 tonnes of sugar in the ongoing crushing season which is 13% lower than the 2021-22 season when sugar output was 24,509 tonnes.
In 2020-21, BSFIC had produced 48,000 tonnes of sugar when it shut its six mills to reduce losses.
Despite closing sugar mills, it is suffering provisional loss of Tk 880 crore in FY 2021-22 which was around 15% lower than the Tk 1,036 crore registered in the preceding year, as per the Bangladesh Economic Review 2022.
The area under sugarcane cultivation has been declining and has now reached 50,000 acres in the current fiscal year as farmers are opting for maize, said BSFIC officials.
