'Sugar is no more sugar, it has become poison'
Pic: Barta24.com
A few days later, the Muslim’s self-restraint month of Ramadan. At the end of the whole day of fasting, a glass of sherbet is supposed to refresh the spirit of the fasting people, but the price of sugar, the main ingredient for making sherbet, is now beyond the reach of consumers. In this, common people coming to the market to buy sugar saying "sugar is no longer sugar, it has become poison".
Yesterday, on the news of sudden increase in the price of sugar by Tk. 20 per kg, unscrupulous traders immediately tried to create an artificial crisis of sugar, and the Ministry of Commerce withdrew the decision at night.
A part of the wholesale traders said that they have to count the loss as the decision to raise the price of sugar suddenly and withdraw the price at night. Basically, on the news of price increase, the traders have ordered (DO) sugar at a higher price. Now that it has been decided to reduce the price again, the ordered sugar will have to be sold at a lower price.
At present, open sugar is sold at Tk. 140-142 per kg in the market, which was Tk. 125 last Ramadan and packaged sugar at Tk. 150-155.
On Friday (February 23), some retail markets in Mirpur saw white sugar being sold at Tk. 136-142 depending on the type.
Owner of Sultan Traders Abdur Rahman said that he is selling white sugar at Tk. 136-138 per kg. But it is losing him. As the reason, he said that he had bought a bag of sugar for Tk. 6,600 earlier, but suddenly yesterday afternoon, he had to buy it at a price of Tk. 80 to Tk. 150 more per bag. Then the price of that sugar fell again at night. He also complains about the labor cost per bag and sometimes less sugar in the bag.
Salim, the owner of Salim General Store, said that he bought sugar a few days ago for Tk. 6,600. In this his per kg sugar has fallen to Tk. 132. However, he bought two sacks of sugar for Tk. 6,850 without getting sugar due to the price increase; in this, sugar has fallen to Tk. 137 per kg. Shop rent, electricity bill, salary of employees etc will be added to this, making his expenses above Tk. 140 rupees. Now if you can't sell at a higher price then there is no way but to pay a loss. He complained that the prices of all kinds of products during Ramadan have already increased. Chickpeas were sold at Tk. 100 earlier but now they are being sold at Tk.104. But this gram was Tk. 80 last year, and sugar was Tk. 120.
A visit to the wholesale sugar markets in Mirpur revealed that there was some control over the supply of sugar from the mills due to the sudden increase in the price of sugar. But the mills are taking orders again at night. Businessmen are in a panic. So many traders are waiting and releasing sugar little by little.
Tajul Islam, manager of Momin Banizya Bitan, said that sugar was sold at a high price until 6 pm yesterday. On the news of price hike, sugar started selling at higher prices. But today I am selling for Tk. 6800 to Tk. 6850.
Also, Tanmoy Traders, Farooq Traders, Momin Traders did not order today at an additional rate of Tk. 6780.
Meanwhile, the price of sugar in Moulvibazar increased by at least Tk. 50-100 per bag yesterday. Besides, many traders are not getting sugar even after ordering. They said that when a vehicle is sent to bring sugar, the transport sits at the mill gate for two or three days. Tk. 2000 per day as demurrage has to be paid. This then feeds into the price of sugar. If the goods were available immediately then the sugar would have been available even less.
Hasibur Rahman, an official of a private organization, has come to the market to prepare for the upcoming Shabe -barat and Ramadan market. He said that a kind of game has already started with the price of sugar before Ramadan. In our country, if there is any problem, a part of the businessmen suddenly increase the price without thinking about the people, just for the sake of extra profit. Sugar which was Tk. 115-120 last year is now Tk. 140-155 . Sugar no longer feels like sugar, it feels like poison. The rise in commodity prices has now become a thorn in the neck. So the government should pay close attention to the market so that common people don't suffer during Ramadan.
