Sugarcane harvesting season opens amidst stunning profits

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen ceremonially chops a sugarcane at the Buttala cane plantation of Pelawatte Sugar Factory on 2 March as Lanka Sugar Company Chairman Navin Adikarama (standing third from left) looks on

• Rishad thanks State-owned sugar industry workers for superb performance
• State-run LSCL’s Rs. 1 b loss changes to Rs. 1 b profit in just 1 year
• MRPs on sugar not a good idea: Rishad
• Says SL sugar output low, time to increase
• LSCL produces best quality natural brown sugar

As the State-owned sugar manufacturing industry reported historic profit levels, Sri Lanka thanked its cane harvesters for their supportive role in unprecedented success heard for the first time in years. 

“Thanks to your contribution, today our Government-owned sugar production industry is earning profits without any need for privatisation,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on Thursday in Buttala, addressing the inauguration event of sugarcane harvesting ceremony of Pelawatte Sugar Industries owned by Lanka Sugar Company Ltd. (LSCL). Joining Minister Bathiudeen was LSCL Chairman Navin Adikarama. 

“We start another round of sugarcane harvesting today. For years, similar harvesting ceremonies have been taking place but local sugar production was incurring losses and likelihood of privatisation has been in the air,” said Bathiudeen.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen meets sugarcane workers and harvesters of the cane plantation of Pelawatte Sugar Factory on 2 March in Buttala

“You, the more than 11,000 workers under LSCL, have together helped transform our losses to equal levels of massive profits in just one year! This is a State-owned business success. I thank you for your contribution and wish for success in your harvesting. Let us build on this trend. We are producing less than 10% of our annual sugar needs locally and we need to increase this. Meanwhile Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) on sugar sales are not helping our sugar development efforts. I believe removing MRPs can help the sector to be more competitive,” he added.

Annually Sri Lanka consumes 500,000 MT sugar but locally productions is only 8% of this. In 2015 LSCL under the Industry and Commerce Ministry produced the best quality natural brown sugar in Sri Lanka. LSCL reported a Rs. 1 billion loss ($ 6.6 m) but this trend reversed by September 2016 when LSCL reported a Rs. 1 billion profit ($ 6.6 m) – a stunning turnaround not seen in any other Sri Lankan State-owned business enterprise in recent times.