As sugar prices skyrocket following a severe shortage in major parts of the country, senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and owner of JDW Sugar Mills Limited — the largest white sugar producer in the country –, Jahangir Khan Tareen, has announced to sell whopping 20,000 tonnes of the commodity for just Rs67 per kilogramme (kg).
Speaking to a private media outlet, Tareen said that Sugar Mills Association, in a bid to control inflating prices of sugar, had decided to provide Utility Stores with 100,000 tonnes of the same at Rs70 per kg. “Out of my share, I will sell 20,000 tonnes at Rs67 per kg,” he added.
It merits a mention that according to reports, JDW Sugar Mills Limited in January announced its financial results for the first quarter that ended on December 31, 2019, which showed that its revenue went up by 61.45% to Rs13.19 billion during the first quarter as compared to Rs8.17 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The sugar division comprises three sugar mills units, JDW Unit-I, JDW Unit-II and JDW Unit-III in Rahim Yar Khan and Ghotki districts. It is one of the largest groups in the sugar sector and contributes approximately 15-17% of the country’s sugar production. It is also managing Sugarcane Corporate Farms over an area of 24,000 acres in Punjab and Sindh.
While people allege that the government had a role to play in scoring Tareen these profits, as of last month, a serious case of sugar shortage emerged as the country already stumbled amid a wheat crisis.
During the PTI government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilogram (kg). However, over the past week, the wholesale rate rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage surfaced in the country. Last year, Pakistan produced 600,000 tonnes of sugar. Now, however, the wholesale rate of sugar is expected to reach Rs80 per kg, The News reported.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led PTI government has banned export of sugar and turned down a proposal to import the commodity in order to maintain prices in the domestic market.
