After urea, fertilizer, wheat and flour, business mafias have started hoarding and smuggling sugar on a large scale, causing the market price of the commodity to exorbitantly rise.
With the 2022-23 crushing season coming to an end, sugar has started to become expensive, with rates reaching Rs10,110 for a 100 kg bag after an increase of Rs110 on Tuesday. During the past two months, sugar prices rose by Rs30 per kilogram and Rs2,300 per 100 kilogram sack, while the wholesale rate of sugar in the market increased from Rs85 to Rs105 per kg and by Rs110 at retail stores. Arbitrary prices of sugar are being charged in rural and suburban areas.
The Sugar Mills Association sought permission from the government to export sugar as soon as crushing of sugarcane crops had started. The association assured that the price of sugar would not exceed Rs90, however the price of sugar rose by Rs30 per kg and Rs2,300 per sack barely 15 days after the end of the sugar crushing season.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2023.
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