Gas crisis, opportunists behind sugar shortage: DNCRP

A persistent gas crisis and market manipulation by crooked traders are driving up the recent sugar shortage, government officials said on Monday.

Necessary steps are being taken to put an end to the market instability, officials of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) said at a view exchange meeting with traders at its office in the capital. 

Also speaking at the meeting, owners of different manufacturing companies and mills called for resolving the ongoing gas crisis, dollar crisis and problems with opening letters of credit (LCs) to ensure a steady supply of consumer goods.

Kitchen markets in Dhaka are witnessing a huge scarcity of sugar in recent days, forcing the DNCRP to conduct drives to find out the reasons behind the sudden volatility last Saturday and Sunday.

Speaking about the drives, DNCRP Director General (DG) AHM Shafiquz zaman said sugar refining facilities are not getting enough gas pressure which is cutting down production. In addition, refined sugars are not being properly supplied, ultimately creating shortfalls.

Shafiquzzaman also said wholesale and retail traders are taking advantage of this crisis.

“They are selling [sugar] at a much higher price than the government fixed price. Our officials went to the market and did not get the receipts of the products from many,” he said adding that many traders failed to show receipts that they bought the products at higher prices.

The DNCRP DG said, “We have a daily demand of 5000 tonnes of sugar but the mills are currently refining 3500 tonnes a day.

“There is no shortage of raw materials. We can continue for 3-4 months with the sugar we still have.”

He also said that gas supply at refining mills will be restored to the necessary level soon, bringing an end to the instability in the sugar market.

Meanwhile, traders at the meeting complained that mill owners do not mention the price of a product in the supply order or delivery order when they hike the prices. Also, mill owners do not supply products as per demand and time, which puts an extra expense burden on the traders as they have to wait for days with hired trucks to get the products.

Retail traders said they are facing problems on both sides currently. On one hand, they are losing customers due to supply shortages, while on the other hand, they are forced to sell products at a higher price if the wholesalers hike the prices.

Meanwhile, Representatives of production mills said they are currently faced with three major problems– dollar crisis, energy crisis and LC opening– in production and supply, which needs to be resolved soon.   

Firstly, they said the dollar price has increased further amid the crisis, forcing them to pay more for the products and tariffs. Secondly, they are also struggling to open import LCs on time due to strict rules imposed by the central bank. Thirdly, they are not getting enough power and gas for production.