LAHORE: Taking notice of surge in sugar prices, Cane Commissioner Punjab Abdul Rauf has asked the deputy commissioners of Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan to take immediate strict steps for putting an end to smuggling of the sweetener to stabilize its prices in the domestic market.

In two separate communiqués to the deputy commissioners of Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan said that sugar prices in the province have surged to a great extent, during the past few weeks and this trend is still ongoing. “It has been learnt that this increase in the sugar prices has occurred, inter alia, because of massive smuggling of the commodity. There is an apprehension that sugar stocks’ depletion would compel the government to import sugar at much higher rates,” the letter added.

The Cane commissioner asked the administration of both the above-mentioned districts to take immediate remedial measures in order to stop smuggling of sugar so that its prices may get stabilized and under the access of common man.

Meanwhile, sugar prices on Monday reached Rs 14000-14100 per 100 kilograms in the Akbari Market, the biggest commodity market of the country. Hamid Akmal, a sugar and ghee dealer while talking to this scribe said that some 15 days earlier, this price was hovering around Rs 11,000 per 100 kilograms thus adding Rs 30 per kilograms in just a fortnight. When asked, he said sugar industry circles were also quoting smuggling and shortage of the commodity as responsible for this steep rise which, he said, seemed not to come to an end.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023