Anisul Islam Noor :
The country’s sugar mills have made a record sale of 95, 703 tonnes of sugar and earned about Tk 500 crore, said the sources close to the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).
The government recently initiated to survive the local sugar mills by controlling sugar import. The achievement came after the import duty hike on sugar in December last.
The Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), the authority of public sugar mills, is even considering stopping their sales operation as it has now only emergency stock.
An official at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said following a recommendation from the BSFIC to salvage the state-run sugar mills, tariff value of raw sugar was hiked to US$ 350 per tonne from $320 and that of refined sugar to $430 per tonne from $400.
A 15 per cent VAT on both raw and refined sugar on the basis of tariff value was also imposed, he said.
The enhancement of import duty caused a significant surge in sugar prices. Prices of the essential increased to Tk 52-54 per kg at retail level in February which was Tk 38-40 per kg in mid-December, last year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
When contacted, Director in-charge (Marketing) of the BSFIC Bikash Chandra Saha said that the Corporation had a stock of 137,000 tonnes in December last, of which 90,423 tonnes worth Tk 434 crore were sold out to the mainstream market in just one and a half months.
He said, it is a record that the Corporation sold large quantities of sugar within a short time.
He said Carew & Co. Bangladesh sold highest 16,442 tonnes of sugar, followed by North Bengal Sugar Mills with 12,174 tonnes.
“We have now in hand 0.111 million tonnes of stock and another 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes could be added at the end of the milling season in March,” he said.
Bangladesh’s sugar is produced from sugarcane and the milling season is November to March.
He noted that that the Corporation would stop selling sugar in the market within a few weeks to keep the emergency stock intact.
Chief (Sales) of the BSFIC Md Abdul Wadud Dewan said that sugar prices of state-run mills have now plunged below that of imported ones which helped boost sales.
He said one packet (1 kg) of the BSFIC sugar is being sold at Tk 48 to traders when imported sugar is being marketed at Tk 48.5 to Tk 49.5 per kg at the wholesale.
The BSFIC has targeted producing 80,000 tonnes of sugar in the current financial year (FY’16), of which 52,385 tonnes have already been collected from 15 sugar mills.
However, higher import duty might help the government’s sugar industry, but consumers are getting the heat of increased price.
When asked, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiya said, it is praiseworthy that a state-run industry has been selling its products easily, which ultimately helps minimise public expenditure.
“But it should not hurt the fixed-income consumers,” he said.
He said production of state-run mills are only 0.1 to 0.12 million tonnes annually when demand has surged to 1.6 million tonnes.
“The government should also consider this while formulating its import policy,” he said.
According to the BSFIC, nearly 2.0 million people including farmers, workers and officials are working in 15 sugar mills operating under the Corporation.
The country’s sugar mills have made a record sale of 95, 703 tonnes of sugar and earned about Tk 500 crore, said the sources close to the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).
The government recently initiated to survive the local sugar mills by controlling sugar import. The achievement came after the import duty hike on sugar in December last.
The Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), the authority of public sugar mills, is even considering stopping their sales operation as it has now only emergency stock.
An official at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said following a recommendation from the BSFIC to salvage the state-run sugar mills, tariff value of raw sugar was hiked to US$ 350 per tonne from $320 and that of refined sugar to $430 per tonne from $400.
A 15 per cent VAT on both raw and refined sugar on the basis of tariff value was also imposed, he said.
The enhancement of import duty caused a significant surge in sugar prices. Prices of the essential increased to Tk 52-54 per kg at retail level in February which was Tk 38-40 per kg in mid-December, last year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
When contacted, Director in-charge (Marketing) of the BSFIC Bikash Chandra Saha said that the Corporation had a stock of 137,000 tonnes in December last, of which 90,423 tonnes worth Tk 434 crore were sold out to the mainstream market in just one and a half months.
He said, it is a record that the Corporation sold large quantities of sugar within a short time.
He said Carew & Co. Bangladesh sold highest 16,442 tonnes of sugar, followed by North Bengal Sugar Mills with 12,174 tonnes.
“We have now in hand 0.111 million tonnes of stock and another 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes could be added at the end of the milling season in March,” he said.
Bangladesh’s sugar is produced from sugarcane and the milling season is November to March.
He noted that that the Corporation would stop selling sugar in the market within a few weeks to keep the emergency stock intact.
Chief (Sales) of the BSFIC Md Abdul Wadud Dewan said that sugar prices of state-run mills have now plunged below that of imported ones which helped boost sales.
He said one packet (1 kg) of the BSFIC sugar is being sold at Tk 48 to traders when imported sugar is being marketed at Tk 48.5 to Tk 49.5 per kg at the wholesale.
The BSFIC has targeted producing 80,000 tonnes of sugar in the current financial year (FY’16), of which 52,385 tonnes have already been collected from 15 sugar mills.
However, higher import duty might help the government’s sugar industry, but consumers are getting the heat of increased price.
When asked, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiya said, it is praiseworthy that a state-run industry has been selling its products easily, which ultimately helps minimise public expenditure.
“But it should not hurt the fixed-income consumers,” he said.
He said production of state-run mills are only 0.1 to 0.12 million tonnes annually when demand has surged to 1.6 million tonnes.
“The government should also consider this while formulating its import policy,” he said.
According to the BSFIC, nearly 2.0 million people including farmers, workers and officials are working in 15 sugar mills operating under the Corporation.
