Portal closure, import policy blamed for sugar price hike

A special meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board was held under the co-chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain to review the sugar market situation, imported sugar stocks, and the closure of the S-Track portal. The deputy prime minister attended via Zoom, while the federal minister joined from the Lahore office of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA). According to a statement issued by the PSMA, the sugar industry made it clear that the government's policy of prioritising the sale of imported sugar and closing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) portals for local sugar sales has triggered the recent price surge and supply shortage in the market. Industry representatives said that for the past three weeks, mills across the country have been unable to supply sugar due to the closure of these portals, creating severe cash flow problems and repayment issues on bank loans.