KARACHI, Dec 10: Amid an ongoing dispute between the sugar mill owners and the growers over the official price of sugarcane in the province, the sugar price registered a sharp increase of Rs4 per kg during the last three days in Karachi.

According to a market survey, the commodity, being sold at Rs26.50 per kg just three days back, is now available at Rs30.50 per kg. A 100-kg bag of sugar is being sold at Rs2900 as compared to Rs2600 earlier in the wholesale market.

Market sources say that due to the price dispute between the mill owners and the growers, the crushing of sugarcane has not yet begun in the province obstructing the production of sugar.

The retailers blame the wholesale dealers for the recent increase saying they have been compelled to increase the price as they are buying the commodity at higher rates from the wholesale market.

The government has fixed the official price of sugarcane for the current year at Rs48 per maund, but the growers are not ready to sell the crop at this rate. The growers demand that the official price of sugarcane be fixed at Rs65 to Rs70 per maund, otherwise, they warned, they would prefer to burn the crop instead of selling it to the mill owners at the official price.

The general secretary of Karachi Retailers growers group, Fareed Qureshi says that if the government does not intervene, the price of sugar can further shoot up in the next few days.— Online