IN 2013, rnolasses exports crossed 350,000 tonnes frorn 80,000 tonnes in 2012. Industry executives say they are eyeing foreign sales hitting half a rnilliontonnes this year.

This happened as molasses production exceeded 2.2 million tonnes in Marketing Year (October-September) 2012-13 from just two million tonnes in the previous year. Output during the current marketing year, which ends in September, is projected at 2.5 million tonnes. Exports, therefore, would remain strong even beyond 2014, industry sources say.

Increased molasses output in recent years, on the back of larger sugarcane crops, has also boosted ethanol production and exports. Meanwhile, other local industries like baking, food manufacturing, animal and poultry feed and pharmaceuticals are also benefiting from growing molasses supply.

Latest data on ethanol is not available. But industry sources say that since 2007 when Pakistan State Oil introduced cleaner gasoline using ethanol, ethanol production and exports have been on the rise. In 2012, Pakistan exported more than 300,000 tonnes of ethanol, up from about 220,000 tonnes.

The country has the capacity to process 2.5 million tonnes of molasses to produce half a million tonnes of anhydrous and hydrous ethanol. `Now as molasses production is set to reach 2.5 million tonnes this year, ethanol output too should hit half a million tonnes mark,` says a senior executive at a Lahore-based ethanol manufacturing unit.

Many sugar mills such as Al-Abbas, Crescent, Colony, Habib, Mehran andPremier have their own distilleries to convert molasses into bio ethanol. This is chiefly used in alcohol making but can be converted into fuel alcohol through molecular sieve technology.

This fuel alcohol is used in environment-friendly power generation. That is how some sugar mills also manage to run their own private power plants. In 2013, three Multan-based sugar mills began supplying 15MW of electricity each to Multan Electric Supply Company.

A number of independent distilleries are also in operation that process molasses of sugarcane and sugar beets to produce both food and industrial grade ethanol. Increased outputs of food and pharmaceutical industries, over past few years, have created room for domestic absorption of foodgrade ethanol.Similarly, use of industrial grade ethanol is becoming wider with higher intakes in paints and varnishes and cosmetics manufacturing. Industry sources say mass production of food grade ethanol is yet to begin but that requires sizeable investment in technology. Local companies have started producing it on a limited scale but need continuous improvement to match the quality of imported stuff.

Sugar millers say molasses extracted from sugar beet is generally more suitable for producing food-grade alcohol. But till MY12, only two sugar mills, Al-Moiz and Premier of KPK were using sugar beets for sugar making.

Together they crushed 177,000 tonnes of sugar beet slices to produce 18,200 tonnes of sugar and 8400 tonnes of molasses. Such an amount of molasses is obviously too small to be used for alcohol conversion on a big scale.

Apart from its use in alcohol making, molasses is also directly used in preparation of herbal treatment formulasranging from cough syrups to power pills and diets-and in breads, biscuits, candies, cakes and other confectionaries. In recent past, mushrooming of large bakeries in big cities has boosted local demand for molasses. Sales of dried molasses and dried yeast made out of molasses are on the rise.

Glycerin obtained from molasses is also used in pharmaceutical industry.

Sugar millers say they involve contractors in domestic sales of molasses which is why proximity of sugar mills and local consumption of molasses show a strong connection. Contractors offer better rates of molasses if they can sell it in adjoining areas but if the bulk demand originates from far-awaytowns and cities they either pay less to sugar mills or else sell molasses at higher prices-or do both. Officials of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association say aggregate molasses recovery rate in the country remains around 4.5 per cent though some sugar mills have achieved five per cent plus rate in the outgoing marketing year. One sugar mill, in KPK, produced molasses equal to six per cent of total cane crushed.

A study on sugar industry`s competitiveness, launched a few years ago, notes that whereas sugar mills in Sindh have historically recorded a higher sugar extraction rate, the mills in KPK have shown better molasses recovery ratio. The study was conducted by agricultural scientists from Technology Transfer Institute of Tandojam and Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.•