The government has halved the import duty on refined and unrefined sugar. However, traders continue to increase the price of the product on the pretext of increasing the value of the dollar. Traders attributed the rise in prices to low supply in the domestic market and rise in transport costs. Although the concerned said that the price of sugar is being increased by syndicate. The price of packaged sugar in the market is written at Tk 135, but it is being sold at Tk 145 to Tk 150. A week ago sugar was 135 to 140 taka per kg. Over the course of a week, open sugar has increased by Tk 10 per kg. Meanwhile, the mill owners have sent a proposal to the Ministry of Commerce to increase the rate of Tk 10 per kg of sugar, according to the relevant sources. This image was seen by visiting different markets of the capital.
Those concerned said that mill owners and wholesale traders have made the sugar market unstable. Due to the reduction of import duty, the price of sugar in the market did not decrease, but on the contrary, it increased up to 7 rupees at the wholesale level.
And the retail market has increased by Rs.
About two weeks ago, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) halved the import duty on sugar, but the price of the product did not come down in the market. Apart from this, every time the government and sugar marketing organizations have fixed the price of sugar, it has not been implemented even once. About two and a half months ago, open sugar was fixed at Tk 135 per kg and packaged sugar at Tk 135 per kg. But the market is selling at a higher price than this.
On November 1, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) reduced the import duty on unrefined sugar from Tk 3,000 to Tk 1,500 and the refined sugar import duty from Tk 6,000 to Tk 3,000. This tariff will remain in force till March 31, 2024. The government has reduced the duty so that the price is within the reach of the buyer. But after that the supply of the product did not increase in the market. Even the price has not come down. Again, sugar is not available to buy in many cases even with high prices. Sugar is not available in most retail stores in the market. Buyer Hanif has come to Qawran market. He is seen looking for sugar in one shop after another. Hanif said, I saw in five shops; But I didn’t get sugar.
Sugar seller Hossain Mia said that the price of sugar has suddenly increased in the wholesale market. We have to buy at a higher price. Due to this, sugar is being sold at a higher price of Tk 10-15 per kg in the retail market.
Abdullah, a seller of M/s Salman Traders in Kawran Bazar, said that they ran out of sugar a day ago. He said, 135 taka per kg is written on the sugar packet. But to buy wholesale is 137 Tk. So don’t store sugar now. Sometimes the magistrate comes and fines the packet for keeping the price higher than its face value. So sugar is not available in many stores.
Five of the 15 shops in Kawran Bazaar were found to be selling sugar. Shamim, the seller of Anwar Traders in this market, said that buying our open sugar costs 137 rupees. Then there is the transportation cost to bring it to the store. So we sell at Tk 145 per kg. In the last one week, the wholesale price of sugar per 50 kg bag has increased by Tk 450. Now a bag of 50 kg is 6850 taka. But even a week ago its price was 6400 rupees. It has been seen that sugar is being sold at Tk 145 to Tk 150 in the retail market.
According to a review of data by the government agency Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the price of sugar was Tk 105 to Tk 115 per kg a year ago. According to TCB data, the retail price of sugar has increased by 3.77 percent over the past one month. This rate is much higher in one year. The price of sugar has increased by about 20 percent in a year.
Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant manager of Meghna Group of Industries, a company that markets sugar in the country, said that the production is being disrupted due to the reduction of gas pressure in the factory. Apart from this, the prices in the world market have increased again. The value of the dollar has also increased abnormally. Due to this, the supply of sugar in the market is decreasing.
It is known that there is an annual demand of 18 to 2 million tons of sugar in Bangladesh. Out of this, about 100,000 tons of sugar is produced in the country. The rest of the sugar is imported from various countries including India, Brazil, Argentina. Refined and unrefined sugar is imported from these countries.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Vice President SM Najer Hossain said that the price in the international market is normal, the country’s supply is normal. At the same time the duty has been reduced. Till now they were demanding to reduce the duty. Even then the price increase means the syndicate. The price in the market is supposed to be at least normal, but instead the price has gone up.
Tags: price sugar decreasing duty reduced
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