The industry
Pakistan’s sugar industry
Sugarcane is one of Pakistan’s largest cash crops, and the mills that process it sit at the centre of a supply chain reaching from the grower to the retail shelf.
Overview
From cane field to refined sugar
Sugarcane is among Pakistan’s largest cash crops, and the mills that process it sit at the centre of a supply chain reaching from the grower to the retail shelf. Alongside white sugar, the industry produces molasses, ethyl alcohol and bagasse, and coexists with the traditional gur trade.
The mills are concentrated in three producing provinces. Punjab holds the largest number, Sindh follows along the lower Indus, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hosts both cane and sugar-beet processing.
90 mills on record
Across Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Explore the industry
Everything on record
History of sugar
How sugar manufacture developed in the region and how the modern industry took shape.
List of mills
Every mill on record with its location and district, grouped by province.
Crushing capacity
Installed daily crushing capacity across the industry, mill by mill.
Sugarcane
The crop behind the industry — cultivation, seasons and yield.
Sugarcane varieties
The varieties under cultivation and the traits that distinguish them.
Gur & jaggery
The traditional unrefined sugar produced alongside mill white sugar.
Photo gallery
General meetings, study tours and the mills themselves.
Sugar technologists
The Pakistan Society of Sugar Technologists, working for research and efficiency since 1955.
Outputs
More than sugar
A mill’s crush produces several commodities, each with its own market and its own statistical series.
White sugar
The primary output, tracked by mill, province and season.
Molasses
A by-product of crystallisation, produced and exported in quantity.
Ethyl alcohol
Distilled from molasses and exported as an industrial commodity.
Gur
Traditional unrefined sugar, estimated separately from mill output.