LAHORE: The administration of the metropolitan city has refused to compromise on prices of commodities especially sugar which is in hot demand in summer ahead of the holy month of Ramazan. The price of refined sugar has been maintained at one of the cheapest levels among all other districts of the province and credit for it goes to the persistent resolve shown by the district administration regarding curbing unnecessary price escalation of commodities.The influential sugar producers had used various tactics for pushing price of sugar higher but to no avail, said market insiders. According to official price list, wholesale price of sugar in Lahore hovers around Rs 58 per kg while it is being sold in retail market at Rs 60. The price of sugar is on lower side in Bahawalpur district also if compared with 10 commodity markets of the provinces, as per price report issued by provincial directorate of Agriculture Marketing.In sheer contrast, sugar is costliest for the consumers in Rahim Yar Khan and Rawalpindi where it is being sold at Rs 63-64 per kg in wholesale market. The official rates of various commodities for the provincial metropolis have been set in order to control inflation. Unlike open market sugar price of Rs 65 per kg for retail, the DC office notified price of Rs 60 per kg. The traders are also not in favour of controlling sugar price, saying ex-mill rate of commodity has consistently been on the rise.The traders working in the wholesale market were of the view that the city administration of several other districts have revised price of sugar upward but management in Lahore is not in a mood to allow any escalation of price. The traders expressed the fear that supply line of sugar could be affected if “artificial steps” are taken for curbing rates of sugar. The availability of sugar will become an issue as it becomes scarce in market on controlled rates, said traders.However, the district administration still did not budge to the demands of increasing its rates.Nonetheless, market insiders ring alarm about apprehension of further surge in the price of sugar if solid steps are not taken to arrest the upward trend. The last five years’ level of sugar price in the country could be breached if government failed to tackle the issue through administrative measures, they observed.The present level of sugar prices is already crossing the previous highest sugar rates witnessed in 2016. And sugarcane crushing season just ended in early April. Now a huge quantity of sugar is available in the market. But, against all odds and market trend, producers are still able to jack up price of sugar. In the days to come, when sugar stock would diminish, it is feared that sugar price may go up.The continuation of sugar export policy will add fuel to fire leading to further increase in sugar prices. Hence, market insiders continued to say that there is a dire need to check prices of sugar on a priority basis.Production of sugar this year in the Punjab province has been three million tonne plus a close to one million tonne is present in the shape of carryover stocks. The demand of sugar in the province is estimated at three million tonne. Therefore, there is no issue on the supply side. However, the lobby of sugar producers is manipulating the market forces and is still adamant to push sugar price further up, market insiders warned.
from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2UVpsqW
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