Islamabad:
The federal government has decided to create stands across the country to sell sugar at Rs130 per kilogram.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board, chaired by the Federal Minister of Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain.
The meeting, assisted by the PSMA, the provincial secretaries and the cane commissioners, approved the creation of municipal level stands from three days before Ramazan until the 27 of Ramazan.
Sugar will be available in packages at one and two kilograms, with a 5 kg purchase limit per person when presenting a national identity card.
Federal ministers and chief secretaries will supervise the stands to ensure that consumers receive sugar at an affordable price.
The meeting occurred while the speculative sugar trade began to push the prices of the sweetener even before the arrival of Ramazan and during the crushing season of the sugar cane.
Sugar prices recorded an increase in RS12 per kg in the last week in the municipal markets, because a 50 kg of goods on the local market reached RS7 400 after an increase in RS600.
According to the report, the price of sugar per kilogram on the wholesale market has gone from RS136 to Rs148, while it is sold to Rs150 per kg by retailers.
Usually, sweetening rates decrease during the crushing season. But this season, the situation is contrary and the rates are increasing, although the overwhelming season is in full swing.
In December 2024, the ex-moulin sugar level was from RS125 per kg, but it has now increased to Rs140 to 143, explains a spokesperson for the Sugar Dealers Association. He says that the rate of ex-moulins for February is being launched at Rs145.
He says that the export of sugar and the artificial shortage of the goods is responsible for the rise in prices. He fears that if the situation is not controlled, there is a risk that the price of sugar will increase more in the month of Ramazan.
