Traders defy official sugar price

Seek profit margin of Rs15 per kg after covering multiple costs

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RAWALPINDI:

The Kiryana Merchants Association (KMA) has rejected the government's newly set ex-mill, wholesale, and retail sugar prices, calling them unrealistic and demanding a reasonable wholesale price. The association has sought a profit margin of Rs15 per kilogramme after covering costs.

According to the association, sugar is not available anywhere in the city at the wholesale rate of Rs159 per kg. Due to the lack of checks and balances, sugar is being sold for Rs180 per kg in the open market.

The association's president, Saleem Parvez Butt, and provincial secretary-general Rizwan Shaukat, explained that the ex-mill price of sugar is Rs159 per kg. After factoring in transportation costs, the price of sugar from the mills to the Rawalpindi district comes to Rs165.50 per kg at the wholesale level.

Due to factors like labour, loading, unloading, packaging, and weight discrepancies, sugar costs Rs168 per kg for local grocers, he said and questioned how they could sell sugar at Rs164 per kg when they are buying it at Rs168. This is impossible.

Butt urged the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to calculate the actual expenses from the ex-mills price to the retail shops in the Rawalpindi district and set the price accordingly.

To do this, a joint meeting of the district administration, the price control committee, wholesale dealers, and the KMA should be convened to determine the real price of sugar. If this is not done, the association could halt both wholesale and retail sugar sales.

The association warned that sugar mills and the administration could sell sugar directly, but the wholesalers would stop the open market sales altogether.

In the city centre, sugar is being sold for Rs180 per kg, while in surrounding areas, it has reached Rs190 per kg.