Mobarakganj Sugar Mills brings down operating loss

JHENIDAH, Mar 17: Mobarakganj Sugar Mills Limited (MKSM) authority is expecting to decrease operating loss stealthily keeping the only heavy industry of the district functional for more days compared to the previous years.
Now, the mill owes a state-owned bank Tk 2,200 million, mill sources said.
The mill's operating loss was Tk 389.40 million in Fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 crushing season, Tk 471.90 million in FY 2018-19, and Tk 370 million in FY 2019-20, according to mill sources.
Last year the mill could be kept functional only for 96 days for lack of raw materials.
The sugar production target was fixed at 10,400 metric tonnes (MT) from more than 1,60,000 MT of sugarcane for the current crushing season, said Alamgir Hossain, GM (factory).
Within 87 days after the launch of crushing, a total of 6,400 MT of sugar has already been produced from 1,21,000 MT of sugarcane with a recovery rate of 5.43 per cent, he added.
And in the current FY 2020-21, with a rough estimate to incur Tk 250.00 million operating loss, the sugar mill started operating on December 18, 2020 hoping to keep it functional for 127 days to end on April 25, 2021.
The recovery rate of the last crushing season was 5.10 per cent,
Khondoker Alamgir Hossain, general manager (GM), (Finance) of MKSM said that the mill would incur less loss in the ongoing crushing season than that of the previous years. Last year the operating loss of the mill stood at Tk 370 million.
"We expect this year's operating loss to come down to Tk 250 million, with a Tk 120 million decrease," he added.
Now there is no sugar and byproduct of molasses of previous years lying stockpiled in the mill's godowns.
In the fiscal year (FY) 2019-20 Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation gave the sugar mill a plantation target to bring 8,400 acres of land under sugarcane cultivation and the target was achieved, said Gautom Kumar Mondol, deputy general manager (DGM) (Extension).
At the recovery rate of 5.10 per cent, 7,068 MT sugar was produced from 1,38000 MT of sugarcane in the last crushing season.
For the next crushing season, the corporation has given the sugar mill a belated target to bring 6,500 acres of land under sugarcane cultivation with a cane production of 1,30000 MT.
The mill authority expects to get 1,20,000 MT to 1,25,000 MT of sugarcane from the targeted land area in the coming crushing season.
In the current crushing season the mill has got a byproduct of 4,450 MT of molasses worth around Tk 120 million.
There are 30 officers working in the mill now against the corporation's set up of 57.
Besides, as against the corporation's set up staff of 1,127, at present 833 people are employed here including seasonal and permanent staff.
The mill has to pay its officers and other staff Tk 20 million and Tk 12.50 million during the crushing season and off-season respectively every month as salary and allowances.
Following the government decision to keep Kushtia Sugar Mills Limited inoperative for the current crushing season, Mubarakganj Sugar Mill has got an allotment of 21,300 MT of sugarcane to crush from under that mill area, among which about 13,000 MT of sugarcane has already come and been crushed.
The mill now does not owe sugarcane farmers any money of the previous years, mill sources said. All the dues were paid by selling the unsold sugar by November last year.
However, presently the mill owes farmers Tk 100 million for the sugarcane being crushed during the current crushing season.
A good number of farmers urged Bangladesh Food and Sugar Industries Corporation to increase sugarcane prices. They also demanded that the mill authority should make payment of the sugarcane as early as possible.
CBA president of MKSM Md. Golam Rasul, said, "Sugarcane farmers' payment is delayed every year putting the growers in great trouble to make payments to the lenders and plant sugarcane for the next season. We demand the corporation should pay sugarcane prices before it is too late."
"In order to turn the mill into a profitable industry, the existing sugarcane varieties must be replaced by the developed ones giving higher recovery rates," he added.
Mohammad Mosharuf Hossain, Managing Director (MD) of the sugar mill said, "We hope it will take the mill three to four years to reach break-even point (no profit, no loss situation)".

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