Bangladesh to import 1.1 mln tonnes of raw sugar

DHAKA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh will import 1.1 million tonnes of raw sugar in the current fiscal year to June 2010 to meet domestic demand, government officials and traders said on Tuesday.

"The country's demand of some 1.2 million tonnes of refined sugar will largely be met by local private refineries," said a senior official of the state-owned Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).

Bangladesh refineries solely depend on imported raw sugar.

The imports of raw sugar in the country was also around over 1.0 million tonnes in 2008-09 (July-June), a leading raw-sugar importer said.

BSFIC manages government crushing mills and monitors demand and supply of sugar in the country which largely depends on imported sugar.

There is no private crushing mills in the country and BSFIC has no raw-sugar refinery.

Bangladesh's five top refiners have the capacity to meet the demand by importing and refining raw sugar, the BSFIC official said.

He said 15 state-owned crushing mills will produce 100,000 tonnes in the upcoming crushing season from November to May, against 75,000 tonnes in the previous crushing season.

The sugar production has been falling in the country since the 2007-08 fiscal year when production was around 165,000 tonnes as farmers shifted to other cash crops.

Farmers say sugarcane takeS more than 12 months to be ready for harvesting, while other crops like rice can be harvested thrice in similar period. (Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; editing by James Jukwey)