Refiners cut sugar prices after govt directive
Following a government directive, sugar refiners yesterday lowered the prices of the commodity amid a continuous rise at the retail level.
As per the new rate, the price of loose sugar has been set at Tk 74 per kilogramme (kg) while packaged sugar will cost Tk 75 per kg.
The decision was taken after a meeting between Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association, the commerce ministry and Tariff Commission, according to a press release.
The prices were readjusted considering the current international prices and product costs, it said.
Biswajit Saha, director for corporate and regulatory affairs at City Group, said they will implement the new rates fixed by the government.
Abul Hasem, vice president of the Sugar Baboshayee (businessmen) Association, said they were not aware of the new prices.
"It is not possible to implement the new prices at the retail level as millers are asking for Tk 74 per kg," he said.
Abdur Razzaque, a wholesaler in Khatunganj of Chattogram, the largest wholesale market in the country, said sugar prices at mill gates in the port city were between Tk 73 and Tk 74 per kg.
According to industry insiders, it is not possible to implement the new rates as prices have been increasing at the international level.
Besides, freight charges and production costs have also increased, they said.
In the international market, the price of sugar was between $510 to 520 per tonne earlier this week while it was $420 to 430 per tonne two months back.
An official of an importing company said the import cost of sugar is now around Tk 95 per kg.
The price of sugar has increased by around Tk 20 per kg, or 30 per cent, since the end of July. The retail price of sugar was between TK 60 and Tk 65 until the second week of the same month.
Then, the price increased multiple times, ultimately reaching Tk 80 per kg at the beginning of this week. Yesterday, retailers were selling sugar at Tk 80-85 per kg.
However, data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) shows that sugar was being sold at Tk 78 to Tk 80 per kg at different markets in Dhaka yesterday, which is about 10 per cent more than the price during the same period in July.
As of July 9 this year, the average price of sugar was Tk 69 per kg and even fell to Tk 60-65 the same month before the sudden rise.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, Bangladesh imported 2,450 tonnes of sugar in the 2020-21 financial year, when 2,510 tonnes of the sweetener was consumed.
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