Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Jahangir Tareen’s sugar mills have reportedly posted a profit after tax of Rs138.92 million — a 170% increase in gross profits in three months — as compared to a loss of Rs353 million recorded in the same period last year.
According to media reports, JDW Sugar Mills Limited has announced its financial results for the first quarter that ended on December 31, 2019, which show that the revenue of the largest white sugar producer in the country went up by 61.45% to Rs13.19 billion during the first quarter as compared to Rs8.17 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The sales have increased mainly due to an increase in average selling prices of sugar, molasses and carryover sugar stocks.
The sugar division comprises three sugar mills units, JDW Unit-I, JDW Unit-II and JDW Unit-III in Rahim Yar Khan and Ghotki districts. It is one of the largest groups in the sugar sector and contributes approximately 15-17% of the country’s sugar production. It is also managing Sugarcane Corporate Farms over an area of 24,000 acres in Punjab and Sindh.
While people allege that the government had a role to play in scoring Tareen these profits, it is pertinent to note that as of last week, a serious case of sugar shortage had emerged as the country already stumbled amid a wheat crisis.
During the PTI government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilogram (kg). However, over the past week, the wholesale rate rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage surfaced in the country. Last year, Pakistan produced 600,000 tonnes of sugar. Now, however, the wholesale rate of sugar is expected to reach Rs80 per kg, The News reported.
Further, if the government does with sugar what it did with wheat-flour and does not halt exporting it, prices could reach up to Rs100 per kg in Pakistan.
