Pakistan seizes sugar stocks amid crisis, puts 18 mill owners on ECL

The federal government has taken control of all sugar stocks across the country. Officials from the Ministry of Food confirmed that stocks amounting to 1.9 million metric tons have been shifted from private sugar mills to government control.

Eighteen sugar mill owners have been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL), with an official notification of names expected in the coming days. The move comes amid fears of an artificial shortage and further price hikes.

Federal agents from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) have been deployed at all sugar mills to monitor inventory, and a track-and-trace system has been installed to keep real-time checks on sugar stock levels.

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Earlier, Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain dismissed reports of a sugar crisis in Pakistan and said that the country has adequate stocks of the sweetener.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister described the recent concerns over sugar availability and pricing as "misleading" and clarified that both the import and export of sugar are part of standard trade operations that have been ongoing for years.

“There is no crisis,” he said. “Pakistan has sufficient stock, and market prices are under control.”

He added that the Sugar Advisory Board—which includes federal and provincial officials as well as industry stakeholders—oversees all decisions related to sugar trade.

Hussain cited last year’s surplus of 1.3 million metric tonnes as the basis for authorizing exports.

According to the minister, the previous year's production reached 6.8 million metric tonnes, supported by an opening stock of 800,000 metric tonnes. Sugar exports commenced in October 2024, shortly before the crushing season began. At the time, international sugar prices stood at $750 per tonne, while domestic rates hovered around Rs138 per kilogram.