July 10, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1428

KARACHI, July 9: The sugar prices in the wholesale market crawled up to Rs27.80 per kg on Monday, from Rs25.50 per kg on Saturday, as millers are reported to have curtailed supplies to the market.

Wholesalers and retailers accused the sugar millers for deliberately releasing stocks at slow pace to build up pressure for pushing up the price of the commodity.

However, this increase has yet to reflect trickle down effect at the retail stage. The sweetener is currently selling at Rs29 per kg.

In case the wholesale rates of sugar do not ease off to previous week’s level, retailers will start charging Rs30-31 per kg from the consumers.

A retailer said that some market players had lifted huge quantities of the commodity for onward shipments to flood and rain-affected areas, which has created a pressure on normal supplies to the wholesale market.

Increase in sugar retail prices will be another shock for the consumers who are now paying Re1 per kg extra on wheat flour (atta no. 2.5) from the last one week due to increase in wheat prices.

Following rise in atta prices tandoor owners had also pushed up bread (roti) rates to Rs4 per loaf from Rs3 to Rs3.50. Sheermal had also become costlier by Re1 per piece. Pulses had already become costlier from the beginning of this month.

Since the government is highly engaged in bailing itself out from the judicial and Lal Masjid crisis, the consumers have been left at the mercy of market players and producers who are bent upon charging higher prices in the absence of any random check from the regulatory authorities.

Millers have already threatened to delay cane crushing to January from November 2007 on the plea that over one million tons of the sweetener are lying with them which they think will be sufficient for meeting consumption demand till December 2007.

An office-bearer of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), who asked not to be named, told Dawn that sugar price had definitely increased at wholesale stage to Rs27 per kg not Rs27.80. He said that the millers had a stock of 1.67 million tons, market players 100,000 tons and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) was holding 400,000 tons. The country produced 3.76 million tons of sugar in 2006-2007.

He said it was wrong to say that the millers were not releasing their stocks to the markets. “If we have been holding back stocks then sugar prices would have touched over Rs35 per kg,” he added.

When asked why consumers would suffer when industry had ample stocks, he said keeping in view of limited per capita consumption, it cannot be termed burden on consumers.