A gas supply crisis at mills has reduced the production of sugar and increased the market price, according to Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.
But sugar can still be bought at the market, the commerce minister said on Thursday following a meeting with a taskforce on inflation and market monitoring.
The minister would not give a straight answer when asked when the supply of sugar would stabilise and prices would return to the level set by the government, reports bdnews24.com.
“The supply of sugar needs to be regular,” he said. “If the supply is slow, there is a problem. If it returns to normal, it will be sold at the set price.”
"I don’t see any negative impact on sugar. Sugar is available. There will be no problems until January. However, sugar production has been disrupted by irregular gas supply," he said.
“Mills are not able to produce more than 66 per cent of their capacity.”
Munshi blamed external factors for the difficulties people were facing due to inflation and said: "It is true that people are suffering. But most of the blame is due to international factors. We cannot change these international issues overnight.”
The government was aware that people were suffering due to the rising prices of basic necessities, he said.
The government raised the prices of sugar in the first week of October in an apparent move to catch up with the market as the traders were already selling at higher rates than the previously fixed prices.
The price of refined but loose sugar was fixed at Tk 90 a kg in the retail markets, while the price of packaged sugar was set at Tk 95.
Sugar prices skyrocketed in Dhaka by the end of last week after most stores ran out of supply. Retailers who still had the products were charging customers up to Tk 120 per kg.
The annual demand for sugar in Bangladesh is 2.5 million tonnes. The local mills produce only 100,000 tonnes and the rest is imported.
Sugar prices have increased by 19.5 per cent in the past year, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, although international media reports that the freight cost for imports has decreased.
Importers and refiners blamed a shortage of dollars for imports and a lack of gas to refine the sweetener for the crisis.