KARACHI, July 4: Pakistan, struggling to rein in sugar prices, will aim to buy up to 100,000 tons of refined sugar this week but Indian supplies won’t be considered for these purchases, an official with the state-run buying agency said on Monday. Masood Alam Rizvi, Chairman of the Trading Corporation of Pakistan, told Reuters they might issue two tenders — each for about 45,000-50,000 tons — for immediate shipments. “We will definitely be in the market some time this week.”

Mr Rizvi said that a ban on Indian sugar would remain in place. “Any offer to supply Indian-origin sugar will be rejected.”

But Karachi traders said the government could consider Indian sugar in future tenders if global traders quote high prices.

“Much will depend on the result of the corporation’s upcoming tender,” said one trader. “If it gets a good bargain, then imports from India will remain banned. Otherwise, we can see cargoes from across the border as the government wants to stabilize prices and India is the cheapest supplier.”

Mohammad Najib Balagamwalla, chief executive of Seatrade Group, told Reuters on Sunday more meetings were scheduled between trade and government officials to resolve the issue and chances of Indian sugar coming was “close to 100 per cent”.

Pakistan banned imports of Indian sugar in 2001, after the local industry complained that cheap Indian sugar was hurting Pakistani cane growers and processors. During the fiscal year 2000-01, Pakistani traders bought more than 800,000 tons of Indian sugar.

Some dealers said quality of Indian sugar was also a consideration.

“We heard Pakistan is looking for 50,000 tons of sugar with 100 ICUMSA level,” said a dealer at an international trading house.

ICUMSA, the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis, measures the colour of sugar. The lower the ICUMSA level means a higher degree of whiteness.

An official at the ministry of production and industries, said imports could be up to 300,000 tons as the country needed big stocks ahead of the fasting month of Ramazan, which falls in October.

“We will need more imports to stabilize prices before Ramazan,” said the official who declined to be identified.

“Our initial estimate is that we will have to import 300,000 tons of refined and 100,000 tons of raw sugar to check prices,” he said.

The official said the government anticipated a supply shortage and high prices if immediate imports were not made.

Pakistan has been buying the commodity from international markets since January and has imported more than 500,000 tons of refined and raw sugar.

But imports have failed to dent high domestic prices, which were around Rs27 to Rs28 per kg in June, a little softer from a four-year high of Rs30 per kg in February.—Reuters