Commerce Ministry has refused to accept the decision of Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Dr Salman Shah, for offloading of sugar buffer stock into the open market, saying that the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) was the right forum and not the Advisor to decide the issue.
Sources told Business Recorder that Salman had briefed the Prime Minister on sugar situation on July 26, and sought his approval to offload the buffer stock available with Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).
Next day, on July 27, the Advisor held a meeting in his office, which was attended by the senior officials of various ministries, including Secretary, Commerce, wherein he decided to offload 50,000 tons sugar from buffer stock, and directed the TCP to float tender immediately.
Sources said that Commerce Ministry took strong exception to the Advisor's decision and, on July 28, instead of passing on Salman's direction to TCP, took up the issue with the Prime Minister through a summary.
According to sources, the Ministry in its summary argued that TCP had purchased the stock from sugar mills on the directive of ECC and now the same forum should decide the issue of offloading.
The summary did not include the issue of offloading of buffer stock. It rather recommended import of sugar from India.
The matter was finally left for ECC, which met on August 2.
Sources said that ECC discussed the issue in depth and finally allowed sugar import from India, and asked TCP to import another shipment of 0.1 million tons.
TCP has already struck a deal with a UAE-based firm for import of 0.1 million tons sugar and it is expecting to get first vessel with 20,000 tons on August 10. This would be followed by another vessel, carrying 24,000 tons sugar by the end of this month. It will get the remaining 56,000 tons probably in three vessels by the end of next month.
TCP has a stock of around 300,000 tons sugar.