Sugar Prices Hit Record High Despite Ample Stocks

Sugar prices in Karachi have surged to an unprecedented level of Rs. 202 per kilo in wholesale markets, even though the crushing season has begun in Sindh and Punjab and the country holds large stocks of imported sugar. Wholesalers warn that retail rates in several neighbourhoods have already climbed to between Rs. 210 and Rs. 215 per kilo, and could rise further in the coming days. The sudden jump comes after sugar mills reportedly stopped supplying Karachi’s wholesale markets for the past two days. Chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association, Rauf Ibrahim, said Karachi has never seen wholesale sugar rates touch Rs. 202 per kilo before. He claimed that mills have imposed a supply halt, while prices in Punjab have fallen to Rs. 175 per kilo and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Rs. 200 per kilo through what he described as “coordinated planning.” He warned that the continued suspension of supplies from mills is likely to push wholesale prices even higher in the city, which ultimately burdens consumers already struggling with food inflation. Ibrahim also noted that sugar mills purchased sugarcane from farmers at Rs. 350 to Rs. 400 per maund, making the cost of cane roughly Rs. 10 per kilo for mills. Despite this, he said, consumer prices continue to surge due to cartel-like behaviour in the industry. He pointed out that even the International Monetary Fund recently raised concerns about cartelization in Pakistan’s sugar sector, but no meaningful action has been taken by the authorities. He urged the government to take “immediate and strict action” to break the cartel and protect the public interest.