Sugar now costs between Rs. 150 and 165 per kilogramme at retail due to an increase in wholesale prices.
Retailers are presently asking for Rs. 150 per kg, while supermarkets, marts, and online grocery websites have set the retail cost at Rs. 155–165 per kg. The sugar industry, meanwhile, has displayed signs of rapid growth and reported earnings that are record-high.
According to data from the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), the price of sugar in the nation increased to an average of Rs. 135–160 per kg in the most recent week, up from Rs. 125–140 /kg in July first week and Rs. 87–100 per kg in the initial week of January 2023.
According to Rauf Ibrahim, the chairman of the Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association, the wholesale price increased by Rs. 8 per kg in the last couple of days, rising to Rs. 143 per kg from Rs. 131-132 in the first week of July. Additionally, he expressed concern over the government’s failure to address the rising sugar prices, which has led to sugar mills raising prices on their own.
The Punjab government responded to the situation by putting into effect a number of measures in the final week of July, which includes seizing sugar that had been stocked up for use in illegal trade. The government will sell the recovered sugar and provide the earnings to the national treasury.
Additionally, the Punjab government intends to bring legal actions towards sugar millers and market traders for speculation and has given the cane commissioner the power to control the storage, distribution, and pricing of sugar.
Rauf Ibrahim, on the other hand, voiced his displeasure with the overall approach taken by the federal and provincial governments in addressing the problem and questioned the efficacy of the measures taken thus far. Uncertainty surrounds the size of sugar stocks that have been recovered from markets and sugar mills and accumulated to take advantage of the current situation.
