Sugar prices dip in Pune

Wholesale and retail sugar prices have dropped in Pune although consumers say retail prices still remain high

PUNE: Wholesale and retail sugar prices have dropped in Pune although consumers say retail prices still remain high.

Wholesale and retail sugar prices have dropped in Pune although consumers say retail prices still remain high. (REUTERS (PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

Ishwar Nahar, president of the Pune Sugar Merchants Association, told Hindustan Times that wholesale sugar prices have fallen from ₹67 per kg on Monday to ₹61 per kg on Tuesday. “We expect prices to decline further as the Centre’s decision to import 10 lakh tonnes of sugar has had a positive impact on the market,” Nahar said while denying allegations of hoarding by traders, saying that the practice is not financially viable, especially ahead of the festive season. “Traders cannot afford to hoard sugar. The money generated by selling sugar to retailers is used to purchase fresh stocks from sugar mills. With the festive season approaching, no trader can afford to block their money by hoarding sugar,” he said. Nahar said that only about 35% of the country’s total sugar consumption is sold through retailers to consumers. The remaining 65% is purchased by bulk buyers, including beverage and pharmaceutical companies and businesses involved in manufacturing confectionery and sweets. “The wholesalers are in no way responsible for the rise in sugar prices,” he said.

The fall in wholesale sugar prices has also brought down retail sugar prices, with sugar selling at around ₹70 per kg in Pune on Tuesday.

“The price has dropped by ₹5 per kg, but some customers continue to be unhappy because they still find it expensive,” said Prakash Kumar, a retailer in Bopodi.

Meena Patil, a homemaker, said that retail prices will fall further before the festive season begins. “Paying ₹70 per kg will pinch consumers’ pockets,” she said.

Some wholesalers, meanwhile, blamed a section of the sugar mills for the earlier rise in prices, claiming that the mills had increased the prices at which they offered sugar to wholesalers. “Some sugar mills increased their bidding price by at least ₹6-7 per kg this month. The price usually hovers around ₹46-47 per kg. This led to an escalation in prices,” some wholesalers claimed.

Pratap Ohal, vice-president of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, however, denied that cooperative sugar mills in the state have increased sugar selling prices.