Sugar refiners want lifting of export ban
Monday, 10 May 2010
FE Report
The country's private sugar refiners made a set of demands including lifting of export ban on sugar and widening of the existing import duty between the raw and refined sugars for the survival of the industry.
They also sought support for helping offset the losses that the local refiners are facing on account of selling sugar at nearly-Tk 20 a kg below their production cost.
A delegation of the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association (BSRA), led by its president Fazlur Rahman, put forward the demands at a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the latter's secretariat office.
The BSRA leaders demanded that the minimum gap in the import duty between raw sugar and refined sugar should be Tk 5000 per tonne compared to the existing Tk 3000 to help local refiners compete with the global market.
The refiners also informed the finance minister that nearly 1.0 million tonnes of their refined sugar remain unsold, which led to a drastic cut in their production.
Against this backdrop, they sought the finance ministry's intervention in lifting of the existing restriction on sugar export, as there has been a high demand for sugar in countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Malaysia and China.
"Allowing sugar export will not only help the country fetch a handsome amount of foreign currency, but also help local refiners minimise their current loss," the BSRA leader told the finance minister.
The refiners also informed Mr Muhith that they had imported raw sugar at the rate of around US$ 743 per tonne, which means the import cost of raw sugar stood at more than Tk 50 per kg.
But the refiners have to sell the finished sugar between Tk 36 and Tk 38 per kg at the local markets, they said.
About a government move to import about 60,000 tonnes of sugar through the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the BSRA leaders appealed to the government to purchase the same from the local refiners instead and save a significant amount of foreign currency.
Ruling out the allegation that the local refiners are involved in the manipulation of sugar prices in the local market, the refiners suggested fixation of both supply and value chains of the commodity to this effect.
Responding to the BSRA's demands, the finance minister expressed his willingness to positively consider their demands.
After the meeting the BSRA members informed newsmen that some seven sugar refiners are in operation in the country, the annual production capacity of all combined is 2.4 million tonnes. And the value addition of the sugar refinery units is estimated at nearly 30 per cent, they added.
The country's annual demand for refined sugar is around 1.4 million tonnes, they mentioned.
The country's private sugar refiners made a set of demands including lifting of export ban on sugar and widening of the existing import duty between the raw and refined sugars for the survival of the industry.
They also sought support for helping offset the losses that the local refiners are facing on account of selling sugar at nearly-Tk 20 a kg below their production cost.
A delegation of the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association (BSRA), led by its president Fazlur Rahman, put forward the demands at a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the latter's secretariat office.
The BSRA leaders demanded that the minimum gap in the import duty between raw sugar and refined sugar should be Tk 5000 per tonne compared to the existing Tk 3000 to help local refiners compete with the global market.
The refiners also informed the finance minister that nearly 1.0 million tonnes of their refined sugar remain unsold, which led to a drastic cut in their production.
Against this backdrop, they sought the finance ministry's intervention in lifting of the existing restriction on sugar export, as there has been a high demand for sugar in countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Malaysia and China.
"Allowing sugar export will not only help the country fetch a handsome amount of foreign currency, but also help local refiners minimise their current loss," the BSRA leader told the finance minister.
The refiners also informed Mr Muhith that they had imported raw sugar at the rate of around US$ 743 per tonne, which means the import cost of raw sugar stood at more than Tk 50 per kg.
But the refiners have to sell the finished sugar between Tk 36 and Tk 38 per kg at the local markets, they said.
About a government move to import about 60,000 tonnes of sugar through the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the BSRA leaders appealed to the government to purchase the same from the local refiners instead and save a significant amount of foreign currency.
Ruling out the allegation that the local refiners are involved in the manipulation of sugar prices in the local market, the refiners suggested fixation of both supply and value chains of the commodity to this effect.
Responding to the BSRA's demands, the finance minister expressed his willingness to positively consider their demands.
After the meeting the BSRA members informed newsmen that some seven sugar refiners are in operation in the country, the annual production capacity of all combined is 2.4 million tonnes. And the value addition of the sugar refinery units is estimated at nearly 30 per cent, they added.
The country's annual demand for refined sugar is around 1.4 million tonnes, they mentioned.