Retailers threaten sugar sale halt amid price hike
As the wholesale price of sugar has witnessed a continuous hike, the Grocery Merchants Association has announced that if the Punjab government and local administration fail to reduce the ex-mill wholesale price of sugar, all grocery retailers across Punjab will stop selling sugar from next week.
Sugar prices in the open market have surged by Rs20 per kg, reaching Rs180 per kg.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, the association's president, Saleem Parvez Butt, said that the government has fixed the official retail price of sugar at Rs164 per kg, but sugar is now being supplied by mills at a wholesale rate of Rs174 per kg.
He explained that additional costs, including loading, unloading, transportation, shopping bags, and wastage, amount to approximately Rs10 per kg. This means that purchasing sugar at Rs174 per kg and selling it at Rs164 per kg is financially unfeasible for retailers.
Butt further added that the Rawalpindi Division and Islamabad District do not produce sugar and have no sugar mills of their own. Local dealers procure sugar from other regions where mills are located. With the new budget approaching, if prices remain unchecked, sugar could reach Rs200 per kg.
The Central Grocery Association of Punjab has issued a clear warning to both the federal and provincial governments that if they continue to pressure retailers instead of controlling the sugar mill mafia and enforcing the official ex-mill rates, then millions of retailers across Punjab will suspend sugar sales entirely.
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