Sugar prices receive new surge in Karachi

KARACHI: The price of sugar has received a new hike of Rs160 per kilogram in Karachi’s retail market, which has led the traders at Jodia Wholesale Market to demand that the export of the commodity be banned. 

The chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association, Rauf Ibrahim, said that the prices of sugar in the wholesale market have shot up to Rs150 per kilogram, and advance deals for March have touched Rs152 per kilogram.

Traders are accusing the hoarding mafia of a hike in prices and are warning that prices may jump during Ramazan. Pakistan’s monthly sugar consumption is around 550,000 tons, but during Ramazan, it goes up to 1 million tons. So, again, pressure on the market is mounting.

Since December, sugar prices have surged by Rs26 per kilogram. Last year, profiteers had taken rates to Rs180 per kilogram. Even at utility stores, sugar prices have increased by Rs5, to Rs 145 per kilogram, and traders are cautioning that unless the government acts immediately, the price may get out of hand during Ramazan.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has reported that the retail sugar price has touched Rs 160 per kilogram in retail markets across Pakistan, with prices peaking at major cities Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Karachi.

According to the PBS data, sugar is being sold at different prices in different cities. The highest price is observed in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Karachi at Rs160 per kilogram. 

The price of sugar is Rs155 per kilogram in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Khuzdar, and Quetta. However, in Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, and Larkana, the price is Rs150 per kilogram.

In Rawalpindi and Lahore, sugar was available at the price of Rs150 per kilogram. Similarly, in Sargodha, Multan, and Gujranwala, its price was fixed at Rs145 per kilogram.

The cost of sugar ranged from one district to another where the lowest prices were observed to be in Bahawalpur and Sukkur at Rs145 per kilogram.