Refiners have again sought to jack up price of already-pricey sugar by Tk 26 per kilogram, at a time when the sweetener is in high demand during the holy Ramadan festivals.
They cited upturn in the price of sugar on the international market, sources said, and retailers meantime charge sugar price far beyond the government-set rates.
However, analysts say commodity prices largely were on a downturn globally due to consumption squeeze amid high inflation.
Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association (BSRA) moved the proposal recently by fixing themselves the maximum retail price (MRP) of packed sugar at Tk 135 per kg from its government-fixed present rate of Tk 109 while the MRP of loose sugar Tk 125 in a jump from Tk 104 a kg.
However, sugar has never been available in the market at the govt fixed rates. The price of the item went up by Tk. 10 to Tk 140 per kg at the retail level on Tuesday.
The association has already sent a letter to the commerce ministry to inform it about the step taken--which comes amid flurries of talks over high prices of most essential commodities.
The new proposal has been given to implement by taking into account the current upward price trend of such items on the international market, increased bank-loan interest, ship-delay penalty, and production cost of such refiners, according to the association.
In the pricing arithmetic they also added up the dollar price. They claimed the exchange of BDT with a dollar was Tk 115.
On April 06, 2023, the government cut the prices of sugar to contain its soaring prices in a situation, market watchers say, created through short supply of the item to shops.
The rates of packed and loose sugar had been lowered to Tk 109 and Tk 104 per kg respectively-- Tk 3.0-a-kg cut, according to a ministry notification.
The announcement came as a result of reduction in import duty by the National Board of Revenue two weeks back.
Contacted, a senior official of the commerce ministry said, "We have received a proposal from the BSRA recently to increase the prices of sugar. But we will review the proposal and then take a decision."
The hardship of common consumers will intensify further if the prices of the item are hiked. Besides, the item is selling at higher prices, despite the duty cuts, experts concerned said.
There is no alternative to implementing the new rates as prices have been increasing at the international level, one refiner said to justify their move.
Raw (crude) sugar price is US$580-600 a tonne on the global market. The raw sugar has been released and the refiners are marketing after refining raw sugar, according to the association.
The refiners say it is "very regrettable" that the price fixed recently by the government is lower than the current production cost of the sweetener.
Currently, the sugar prices are still much higher on the retail market, even though the government fixed the maximum retail price of the essential to control the rocketing trend in price.
Sugar still sells at Tk 115/120 a kg in the retail markets, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) daily market review.
Traders concerned said they bought at higher prices which forced them to sell at high prices.
The annual local demand for refined sugar is more than 2.0 million tonnes, the bulk of which comes through import. Bangladesh imports 2.0/2.2 million tonnes of raw sugar annually.
On average, 0.15 million (1.5 lakh) tonnes of sugar is required per month. The demand for the item is 0.3 million tonnes during every holy month of Ramadan, according to official data.
President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Ghulam Rahman views that usually traders have "profiteering attitude as they want to have hefty returns from their business at any cost".
The consumer-rights campaigner, however, observed there might be some justification for adjusting sugar price in line with its increased prices on the global market.
"If the price of the sweetener is not adjusted with import price, there remains a possibility of having an artificial supply scarcity of the item in the market," he says.
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