Bangladesh to purchase sugar at Tk 83 per kg from a US supplier

The government raised the sugar price by Tk 16 per kg but it is being sold at a much higher rate in the open market

The government has brought sugar at a price, which is at least Tk 60 less than the current retail rate, through an open tender.

A cabinet committee approved a procurement proposal to buy 12,500 tonnes of refined sugar worth over Tk 662.7 million from US-based supplier Accentuate Technology Inc for the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh on Wednesday.

“The sugar will cost Tk 82.85 per kg. Bangladesh had previously bought sugar at Tk 82.94 per kg from Turkey,” said Syed Mahbub Khan, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division.

The government raised sugar prices by Tk 16 per kg due to import costs, setting the retail prices of unpackaged sugar at Tk 120 and packaged sugar at Tk 125 on May 10.

Consumers were unable to purchase unpackaged sugar for any less than Tk 140 at the moment in the open market and packaged sugar was in short supply. Some companies sold packaged sugar at Tk 150 per kg.