LAHORE: Imported sugar has started creating market distortions as the government, which imported it for creating strategic reserves in the first place, begun selling it in the market and forcing mid-level stores to buy it.

The store owners are trying to resist sale-purchase of the imported sugar for ‘quality issues, and reportedly find it hard to convince consumers to buy it.

“We are stuck in the middle. The officials of the district administration are forcing us to purchase and sell imported commodity, something for which the consumers are not ready,” claimed a store owner.

“Pakistanis prefer crystal and big granulated sugar, whereas the imported sugar is powdered,” explains the store owner, who did not want to be named fearing reaction from the district administration.

Grocers claim that people prefer granulated sugar to caster sugar

As opposed to granulated sugar, caster sugar is finer and powdered and dissolves quickly. Internationally, it is preferred sugar for beverages and tea and it does not need heat to dissolve. However, according to a store owner, for being powdered, it also creates impression of additional usage for the purpose – and being less sweet. Though no one has conducted chemical analysis but the impression of being less sweet, causing more consumption is getting cemented by the day and the people avoid purchasing it, he added.

“For the last few weeks, we have been under official pressure to buy at least 100 bags of imported sugar – an investment of around Rs500,000. The officials know once stores purchase it, they would manage the sale – at least once. So, their entire pressure is riveted on the stores,” he said.

A mill owner thinks that the market rigging is deeper than imported sugar sale in the market.

“Why was sugar imported in the first place when the Ministry for Food Security itself had calculated 6.5m tonnes of production in the Sugar Board meeting? At first, the federal government justified import for creating federal strategic reserves. It has consistently been tendering, cancelling and retendering import orders,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan rupee went down and international price up (from $536 to $700 per tonne), creating a huge gap. Then, somewhere along the line, the government decided to sell the imported sugar. Unable to find ready market, it is now using pressure tactics to clear imported commodity, he said.

“Sugar import was a federal decision,” explained an official of the provincial government and Punjab was never a part of it.

He said the federal government decided to import 200,000 tonne and then told Punjab to take share of 150,000 tonne. The province now has no clue how to deal with the unwanted commodity.

“It has received some reports of quality issues about the first import shipment and it has been taken care of in the second shipment. Hopefully, things would improve in the next few days,” the official hoped.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2021