Grocers announce halt in sugar sales across Punjab

LAHORE: The Punjab Grocery Merchants Association has announced a suspension of sugar sales across Punjab as the sugar crisis deepens.

Punjab Grocery Merchants Association President Hafiz Arif Gujjar said that they cannot buy sugar at high prices and sell it cheaply.

He said that the government and administration have failed to provide sugar at the official rate of Rs165 per kilogramme.

“The government fixed the ex-sugar mill price at Rs165, and now it must ensure implementation,” he said.

According to the association, sugar sales will remain suspended until a pricing mechanism is agreed upon between mills, dealers, and grocery merchants.

“Instead of ensuring sugar supply at official rates, the provincial government has resorted to sealing shops and imposing heavy fines, the association alleged.

The association said that if the government provides sugar at Rs165 per kg as promised, they are willing to sell it at Rs173 per kg.

The association said that retail sugar sales across Punjab will be halted from July 22 (today).

At present, sugar is being sold for as much as Rs200 per kilogram in different parts of the country. Authorities have blamed the soaring prices on alleged collusion by powerful players in the sugar industry, commonly known as the “sugar mafia”, accused of hoarding and manipulating supply to drive prices up.

To tackle the crisis, the federal government earlier removed import duties on sugar temporarily in a bid to ease domestic prices.

Earlier, the federal government and the millers reached an understanding to fix the ex-mill sugar price at Rs165 per kilogramme.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research said that in the light of the decision, provincial governments would ensure the availability of sugar at the affordable prices to the consumers.