Sugar ex-mill price cut by up to Rs44 per kg

LAHORE: The sugar mills’ owners have reduced the ex-mill sugar price by up to Rs44 per kg in about a week or so following the crackdown by the authorities.

The ex-mill price of one kg sugar has come down from Rs144 to Rs100 but most sugar dealers in the local wholesale market are not lifting sugar from mills even at this price. Hence, locally produced sugar is largely not being supplied to retail outlets.

According to the market insiders, dull activity in sugar wholesale market is being attributed to the policies of Punjab government which has taken a firm stand on capping the price of sugar at a certain level.

The provincial government has insisted that local sugar would be sold at the notified price and strict action would be taken against the sugar mill owners or sugar dealers who sell it at a higher price. It is alleged that certain elements indulged in spreading rumors about imported sugar, saying that imported sugar was of poor quality.