Production shortage causes high price of sugar: Faruk

Commerce Minister Lt. Col. (Retd) Faruk Khan, MP yesterday said sugar price would not hike in the next two or three months.

He said the government had already started building buffer stock of sugar through the TCB with a view to controling its price.

The Minister was addressing a roundtable on 'Sugar Industries in Bangladesh: Problems and Potentialities', which was organised by the daily Vorer Kagoj at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.

Secretary of Industries Ministry Dewan Zakir Hossain, former Vice chancellor of Dhaka University Prof AK Azad Chowdhury, Journalist Naimul Islam Khan, Chairman of Meghna Group Mostafa Kamal, among others, addressed the roundtable.

Organising Secretary of Bangladesh Sugarcane Industries Development Forum Shahjahan Ali presented the keynote paper, while Editor of the daily Shyamal Datta moderated the function.

Faruk Khan said the delivery order (DO) business was also responsible for high price of sugar, which should not be allowed.

He also said none who played role behind the price hike would be exonerated from legal actions.

Commerce Minister stressed on enhancing efficiency of sugar refinery mills, adding that the government was taking initiative to boost up the sugar production.

Shahjahan Ali, in his keynote paper said, now 15 out of 17 public sugar mills produce sugar which are out-dated. Technologies of the mills are almost obsolete.

The mills were profitable during the post-liberation time till 1983-'84. But now they are not profitable.

He said the domestic demand of sugar is 21 lakh 25,000 tones annually.

"If proper steps are taken, the sugar can be exported," he added.

"Inadequate quantity of sugarcane, low efficiency of factory, high production cost, low recovery rate and trade barriers cause reduced production of sugar, which results in price hike."

Some speakers said necessary steps should be taken to attract farmers to sugarcane production and make the production profitable. The sugar industry has huge potentialities, if the problems in this sector could be eased, they added.

They said the government should monitor market prices and supply chain strictly, so that unscrupulous businessmen could not hike sugar price.

They also suggested to appoint dealers of sugar mills to keep uniform and fixed price all over the country.

source: nation.ittefaq