Sugar prices soar due to lower-than-expected arrivals
Sugar prices continued to rule higher for another day on the Vashi wholesale market due to lower-than-expected arrivals.
By PTI |
MUMBAI: Sugar prices continued to rule higher for another day on the Vashi wholesale market due to lower-than-expected arrivals. The price of sugar has gone up from Rs 1,290 per quintal in the last week of February to above Rs 1,500. Against this back drop, wholesale sugar traders have demanded immediate suspension of futures trading.
���This is an unprecedented increase. At no point in the last 50 years, the price in wholesale sugar market has risen with such speed,��� the Bombay Sugar Merchants��� Association said in a statement on Thursday. According to the association, the surge in prices have taken place because of the highly speculative activities going on in the sugar futures exchanges.
Mukesh Kuvadia, secretary of the association said the government has released adequate quantity of sugar for the month of March and thus the price of sugar actually should have remained steady or gone down.
The association said there was already a huge buffer stock of sugar in the country and that the current season was likely to end with a surplus of nearly 110 lakh tonnes, equal to more than six months domestic consumption. It added that to keep a check on inflation it was must to keep sugar prices down as it had a considerable weightage in the calculation of the wholesale price index. The rise in the wholesale price of sugar would push the price in the retail market by about Rs 2 per kg, it added.
Meanwhile, prices of medium sugar rose further on sustained demand from retailers amidst poor supply from mills. While medium sugar (M-30) firmed up by Rs 9/20 to Rs 1,545/1,635 per quintal, small sugar (S-30) traded at Rs 1,500/1,540, as against Rs 1,495/1,540 previously.
���This is an unprecedented increase. At no point in the last 50 years, the price in wholesale sugar market has risen with such speed,��� the Bombay Sugar Merchants��� Association said in a statement on Thursday. According to the association, the surge in prices have taken place because of the highly speculative activities going on in the sugar futures exchanges.
Mukesh Kuvadia, secretary of the association said the government has released adequate quantity of sugar for the month of March and thus the price of sugar actually should have remained steady or gone down.
The association said there was already a huge buffer stock of sugar in the country and that the current season was likely to end with a surplus of nearly 110 lakh tonnes, equal to more than six months domestic consumption. It added that to keep a check on inflation it was must to keep sugar prices down as it had a considerable weightage in the calculation of the wholesale price index. The rise in the wholesale price of sugar would push the price in the retail market by about Rs 2 per kg, it added.
Meanwhile, prices of medium sugar rose further on sustained demand from retailers amidst poor supply from mills. While medium sugar (M-30) firmed up by Rs 9/20 to Rs 1,545/1,635 per quintal, small sugar (S-30) traded at Rs 1,500/1,540, as against Rs 1,495/1,540 previously.
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