Tariff commission finds refiners' role in sugar market volatility | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 17, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2025
Tariff commission finds refiners' role in sugar market volatility

Markets

Abul Kashem & Shawkat Ali
10 May, 2023, 10:25 pm
Last modified: 10 May, 2023, 10:31 pm

Related News

  • No shortage of soybean oil: Tariff Commission
  • Tariff Commission urges monitoring of lentils, chickpeas ahead of Ramadan
  • Tariff Commission proposes reducing import duty, AIT on dates
  • Sugar price hiked to Tk160
  • Sugar still above govt-fixed rate despite hike

Tariff commission finds refiners' role in sugar market volatility

The commerce ministry to offer a Tk16 hike in sugar price per kg

Abul Kashem & Shawkat Ali
10 May, 2023, 10:25 pm
Last modified: 10 May, 2023, 10:31 pm

Refiners are behind the volatility in local sugar market, according to a report of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, which found the millers' role in manipulating local market supply and price of the sweetener.

They use various tactics, such as cutting supply during global price hikes, delaying the release of goods against supply orders and taking higher orders than their capacity to make extra profits, reads the commission's report sent to the commerce ministry.

The report appeared at a time when the commerce ministry has decided to allow refiners to increase sugar price by a whopping Tk16 per kg, the biggest jump at one go so far, which will instantly raise the administered rate to Tk125 per kg, though market price is already higher.

A kg of non-packaged sugar is now selling at Tk130-140 in retail against the government-set price of Tk104. Furthermore, the essential commodity is unavailable in many shops and its packaged form is completely out of the market.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"We have received complaints about these issues [sugar market irregularities]. We are working to fix these issues as soon as possible," Commerce Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told The Business Standard.

The Tariff Commission report said no government-set prices – be it for mill-gate, wholesale or retail – are followed.

Moreover, sugar millers manipulate the supply of sugar to control its price. They make unusual delays in releasing sugar stocks, taking as much as 4 months which should take only 15 days. This creates an artificial shortage in the market, shooting the price up.

The irregularities are a clear violation of the Essential Commodities Marketing and Distributor Appointment Order 2011, the report noted.

Sugar millers denied the allegations and said the Tariff Commission report is not based on the truth. "Sugar supply has never been reduced," Taslim Shahriar, senior assistant general manager of Meghna Group of Industries, told TBS.

When contacted, Sugar Refiners Association Secretary General Golam Rahman declined to comment.

Currently, five mills – City Group of Industries, Meghna Sugar Refiners, S Alam Refined Sugar Industries, Abdul Monem Sugar and Deshbandhu Sugar Mills – are refining and marketing sugar. Their annual production capacity amounts to 39 lakh tonnes, according to the commerce ministry.

The demand for sugar in the market is 20-22 lakh tonnes per year, while 97% is imported and 3% is locally produced. Besides, 5% of sugar is sold in packets and the rest in bulk form.

The Tariff Commission, in its report, said the country lacks competition in sugar in the market due to the limited number of mills, recommending that Bangladesh Competition Commission should act upon.

It also called for reducing import duties on sugar and increasing the number of refining mills.

 Ministry to allow Tk16 hike per kg

The Ministry of Commerce, in a letter on Wednesday, asked the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association to increase the prices of non-packaged and packaged refined sugar by Tk16 per kg.

"With this increase, the retail price of non-packaged refined sugar will stand at Tk120 per kg from Tk104 and packaged sugar at Tk125 per kg from Tk109," Commerce Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told TBS.

"We will recommend a further reduction in the duty. A letter will be sent to the National Board of Revenue to this end," he added.

Last month, the prices of a kg of non-packaged and packaged sugar were increased to Tk104 and Tk109 respectively.

Commerce ministry officials said if refiners do not agree with the recommended prices, they will discuss it at a meeting on Thursday.

Taslim Shahriar, senior AGM of Meghna Group, told TBS that the recommended prices are yet to come into effect. "We will decide after Thursday's meeting."  The refiners' body earlier suggested the Tariff Commission set sugar prices at Tk125 a kg for packaged and Tk135 for packaged form.

Bangladesh / Top News

sugar price / Tariff commission / refiners

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    FY26 monetary policy: To ease when is the question
  • Empty roads amid curfew in Gopalganj on 17 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Tense calm in Gopalganj as 22-hour curfew underway following at least 4 killed in clashes
  • Logo of National Citizen Party (NCP)
    NCP announces nationwide protest today against attack on Gopalganj rally

MOST VIEWED

  • 131 foreigners were denied entry into Malaysia by their border control. Photo: The Star
    96 Bangladeshis denied entry at Kuala Lumpur airport
  • Double-decker school buses are lined up in a field in Chattogram city. The district administration has proposed modernising the buses to ensure security and convenience for school students. Photo: TBS
    Country's first smart school bus in Ctg faces shutdown amid funding crisis
  • A file photo of people boarding the government-run Betna Express at a railway station. The train operates on the Benapole-Khulna-Mongla route via Jashore. Photo: TBS
    Despite profitability, Betna Express rail service handed over to pvt sector
  • Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
    Bangladesh Bank buys $313m more in second dollar auction in three days
  • Representational image. File Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Malaysia grants Bangladeshi workers multiple-entry visas
  • People enter and loot Ganobhaban, the Prime Minister’s residence, following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 5, 2024. Photo: TBS
    Govt to spend Tk111cr to turn Ganabhaban into July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum

Related News

  • No shortage of soybean oil: Tariff Commission
  • Tariff Commission urges monitoring of lentils, chickpeas ahead of Ramadan
  • Tariff Commission proposes reducing import duty, AIT on dates
  • Sugar price hiked to Tk160
  • Sugar still above govt-fixed rate despite hike

Features

Abu Sayeed spread his hands as police fired rubber bullets, leading to his tragic death. Photos: Collected

How Abu Sayed’s wings of freedom ignited the fire of July uprising

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Open source legal advice: How Facebook groups are empowering victims of land disputes

2d | Panorama
DU students at TSC around 12:45am on 15 July 2024, protesting Sheikh Hasina’s insulting remark. Photo: TBS

‘Razakar’: The butterfly effect of a word

2d | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Grooming gadgets: Where sleek tools meet effortless styles

3d | Brands

More Videos from TBS

Which country is more important to Russia than Iran or China?

Which country is more important to Russia than Iran or China?

31m | Others
NCP leaders safely in Khulna from Gopalganj.

NCP leaders safely in Khulna from Gopalganj.

11h | TBS Today
July 16 returns with sadness and pain

July 16 returns with sadness and pain

12h | TBS Today
China's economy not hit by Trump's tariff war

China's economy not hit by Trump's tariff war

13h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net