CAB for refined sugar import for short period

The Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has recommended allowing import of refined sugar to create competition in the sugar market.

The CAB made the call at a discussion organized by Bangladesh Competition Commission (CCB) to solve the sugar market crisis at CCB office in Dhaka on Monday.

There are only 5-6 sugar refinery mills having a monopoly business in the sugar market as there is no competition and they are controlling the price at their will, said CAB.

However, currently the mills are not refining sugar as per the demand of the country’s market due to various reasons, which has created a huge sugar shortfall in the market.

Although there is a daily demand for 6000-8000 metric tons of sugar to meet the demand of the food factories in the country currently 3000-4000 metric tons are being supplied to the market.

As there is not enough sugar in the market for common consumers, the price keeps increasing due to supply shortage.

There will be serious sugar crisis in the sugar market in the coming months if this situation continues. So in order to create competition in the market, it is necessary to allow the import of refined sugar along with non-refined sugar for a short period, it said.

The representatives of sugar refineries including City Group, S Alam Group, Abdul Momen Group, Deshbandhu Group, Meghna Group and Pran Group were present in the tripartite meeting presided over by CCB Chairman Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty.

The meeting discussed the ongoing crisis in the sugar market, the causes of price volatility and their solutions.

Kazi Abdul Hannan, a market analyst on behalf of CAB, said, “We observed the market and saw that there is a supply problem in the sugar market from two sides. The refiners are reducing their production and the amount that is being produced is not coming to the market due to industrial demand.”

Wholesalers and dealers are selling sugar at higher prices to retailers taking advantage of the supply shortage resulting in an increase in the price of sugar in the market.

Hannan also demanded that the government should reveal the amount of tax it is taking to control the price of sugar.

Traders are complaining that one of the reasons for increasing sugar price is the additional duty imposed by the government. How much money the government charges for per kg of sugar should be made public while fixing the price, he said.

Refiners said LCs required for import of non-refined sugar cannot be opened and sugar cannot be refined due to gas shortage in the factories.

As a result, a crisis has been created in the market. They said sugar production should be maintained to maintain the market competition.