Sugar price up, stock down

Food dept strives to carry forward 1m tonnes with next produce

LAHORE:

With the sugar price rising to Rs180 per kilogramme due to hoarding and smuggling to Afghanistan, the Punjab Food Department appears unable to check transportation of the commodity because of court injunctions.

As per an estimate, a mafia has caused an additional financial burden of Rs47 billion on the consumers due to the increase in the price of sugar in past three months.

In view of an expected, decrease in sugarcane production in the next season, the TCP has written a letter to the Pakistan embassy in Brazil for sugar import.

The price of sugar per kg has increased by Rs80 during the past few months from Rs100.

Read FC foils attempt to smuggle sugar

The price in the market has now reached Rs180 per kg, with sources in the sector blaming smuggling of sugar to Afghanistan.

The consumers are simultaneously facing exorbitant prices of food and electricity.

According to sources in the PFD, the sugar mills of Punjab had more than 270,000 tonnes of sugar in stock in May, which has now reduced to 130,000 tonnes. The sources said the caretaker government had intensified the monitoring of the remaining stocks.

Meanwhile, the PFD has also given recommendations for a fair price of sugarcane for the farmers.

The Supreme Court has set a minimum sugar content of 8.7 per cent for the purchase.

A premium of 50 paisa per point has been proposed in addition to the fixed support price for sugarcane with sucrose rate exceeding 8.7%. The sources said the PFD was trying to have a carry-forward stock of at least one million tonnes along with the new produce.

On the other hand, due to the declining sugar stock and concerns about decrease in sugarcane production in the coming season, the federal government has activated the embassies in various countries to import sugar in the coming month.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan has written a letter to Pakistan’s commercial attaché in Brazil to explore opportunities to import 100,000 tonne of sugar.

The letter states that government-to-government or private sector sugar import options should be urgently explored with the Brazilian government.

The TCP has also written the details of the quality of refined sugar required for import.

On the other hand, the consumers face prices rising without any respite. Speaking to The Express Tribune, a citizen, Muhammad Akmal, flour, ghee, vegetables, fruits and electricity were already breaking the inflation records, and now there was no choice but to consume less sweet items.

Lala Amin said he had gone to a utility store after being asked for an exorbitant price of sugar in the market, but the commodity was not available there.

Relying to a question, Punjab Food Secretary Muhammad Zaman Wattoo said there were concerns over the rising price of sugar, “but our hands are tied due to a court order. We cannot monitor the transportation of sugar and the court has stopped our role in price fixing. Therefore, we are bound by the court order regarding sugar prices.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2023.