Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association has decided to hike the price of sugar by Tk 25 per kg from 22 June.
The association conveyed its decision to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) in a letter on Monday.
The sugar mill owners had earlier sent a proposal to BTTC to hike the price of sugar. Now, the mill owners have increased the price without waiting for the commerce ministry’s response.
A source at BTTC said, the vendors association proposed BTTC to increase the price of packet sugar to Tk 150 per kg and loose sugar to Tk 140 a kg. The current rate fixed by the government for a kg of packet and loose sugar is Tk 125 and Tk 120 respectively.
The mill owners want to hike the price of packet sugar by Tk 25 a kg and loose sugar by Tk 20 per kg.
However, the sellers at retail markets are already selling a kg of loose sugar for Tk 130-140, more than the fixed rate, while packet sugar is hardly available in retail markets.
In the letter sent to the BTTC chairman by the mill owners, it read that to protect the refiners' association from losses, the new price of sugar will be effective from 22 June.
The association’s president and Deshbandhu Group’s managing director Golam Rahman was contacted by phone but he didn’t respond.