Millers ask government to check sugar hoarding, smuggling to Afghanistan

The sugar millers have asked the government to keep an eye on the movement of sugar to check hoarding of the white refined sugar in the country and its smuggling to Afghanistan. According to Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA), the millers had decided not to keep sugar within the processing units as buffer stocks to avoid any possible action by the government against them on the charges of hoarding.
"The millers have released the entire sugar stocks in the wholesale market from where it is reportedly being smuggled to the neighbouring country or hoarded for profiteering," sources said. They said that the fresh sugar stocks of white refined sugar was either being smuggled to Afghanistan, where it was being sold at Rs 140 per kilogram, or being stored in the godowns of some major wholesale markets of the country.
The profiteers anticipating that the current sugar shortage would further aggravate in mid of 2010 have started hoarding of the commodity to earn money, they said. They claimed that the refined sugar was being exported to Afghanistan in guise of "gur" (raw sugar) where it was being sold at much higher prices than in Pakistan.
"The Supreme Court of Pakistan had banned the movement of raw sugar due to crisis in the country and asked the government for immediate steps to check its smuggling to the neighbouring countries, but no to avail," the sources maintained. They said that the sugar millers had brought their entire sugar stocks to the market to clear banks' dues and to avoid any possible action by the government. But, they said, the profiteers have stocked the commodity in godowns.
"The sugar millers are afraid of any unnecessary action by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on charges of hoarding," they maintained. They said sugar mills of sugar producing provinces were facing acute shortage of sugarcane and all of them were working below their sugar production capacity.
"The commercial players offer comparatively much higher prices to the growers and purchased sugarcane to manufacture raw sugar for export," they said. Talking to Business Recorder, Iskandar M. Khan Chairman PSMA confirmed the reports of sugar smuggling to Afghanistan and its hoarding within the country. He requested the government to look into the matter and take immediate steps against the people involved in the malpractice.