Sugar Mills Association warns govt over rising prices

LAHORE: The Sugar Mills Association (SMA) on Tuesday warned the government about the rising prices of sugar across the country, ARY News reported.

The SMA stated that it had informed the government not to import sugar unnecessarily. It also requested the government to keep the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) portals open.

On the other hand, the FBR portals were shut down for importing substandard sugar. This shutting down resulted in a shortage of sugar in the market and an uptick in its prices.

The SMA said that the sugar industry is not responsible for the increased prices nor a beneficiary of them.

The disruption in the supply chain has created a hurdle in the provision of sugar, the SMA complained.

The SMA stated that the district administrations were compelling mills to sell sugar to government-approved dealers.

These government measures are creating a further crisis in the sugar supply, it added.

Earlier, sugar prices have continued to climb across Pakistan despite sufficient national stocks and additional imports.

According to documents from the Ministry of National Food Security, at the national level, the retail price of sugar rose from Rs132 per kg in November 2024 to Rs189 per kg in October 2025.

In Islamabad, the price increased from Rs137 to Rs192 per kg over the same period.

Across major cities, the price hike varied. Lahore saw the lowest rise of Rs44 per kg, while Peshawar recorded the steepest jump of Rs72 per kg. In Sialkot, the increase was Rs49 per kg; Faisalabad Rs52; Islamabad and Karachi Rs55; Khuzdar Rs56; Hyderabad Rs57; Quetta Rs58; and Sukkur Rs64 per kg.

The ministry’s data confirmed that even with an adequate supply of sugar and extra imports, market prices remained beyond government control.

Official sources admitted that, during the past year, the commodity became costlier by between Rs50 and Rs72 per kg.

In several cities, prices exceeded Rs200 per kg. Despite measures to regulate the market, the price surge continued without restraint.