Wholesalers face ban for hiking sugar prices

May 21, 2008 News

The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc. (GuySuCo) says that it will stop supplying sugar to anyone found unfairly driving up the price of the commodity.

A company official indicated that even though the price of sugar has remained unchanged since 2006, GuySuCo has been receiving reports that some wholesalers are charging far more than expected and blaming GuySuCo.

In an advertisement published in the Kaieteur News of Sunday May 18, the corporation advised that over the past two years, the price for a 50-kilogram (110 lbs) bag of sugar ex-factory has remained at $3800.
“If any wholesaler is found to be driving up the price, (that wholesaler) will be struck from the list of approved suppliers,” the advertisement warned.

Kaieteur News understands that the corporation has been holding the price down despite rising costs.
Some wholesalers are selling for as much as $4,600 to retailers who in turn are passing the increases on to consumers. Spiraling food prices spurred by skyrocketing fuel costs, climate changes and use of farm lands to now produce biofuel instead of food have all contributed to a global situation of concern for policy makers.
Several countries, as a means of countering the effects of rising food prices, have restricted the export of some foods, including rice.
Regional officials are again meeting this week in Guyana to come up with ways of dealing with food shortages and prices and other cost of living factors.
In Guyana, following the recent announcement of a price hike of flour, Government last week kicked off a distribution programme using trucks at the New Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.
Under the programme which will allow bakers to purchase flour at a subsidised price effectively keeping down the price of products, consumers will also be buying flour in small quantities at a reduced price.
The price for a kilogramme of flour from the trucks was going at $150 – fifty dollars below what the retailers are selling for. However, some bakeries are complaining that other bakery products have gone up necessitating an increase in the price of bread.
One baker said that shortening has moved from $7,500 to $9,800 while Special Bran used to make all whole wheat products is up from $5,500 to $6,000.
Currently, the government has a similar distribution programme for rice which is being sold to consumers at a reduced cost.
According to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, there has been an excellent response to the initiative with supplies running out quickly.
Consumers however will not be allowed to buy in large quantities in order to prevent wholesalers cashing in.
Analysts are estimating rice at three million tonnes below current demand.
Guyana has been fighting the challenges of food security using a number of measures.
In addition to a “Grow More Food” campaign aimed at the Guyanese improving their kitchen gardens, President Bharrat Jagdeo recently announced a $4,000 tax-free pay for civil servants; a five per cent increase and other initiatives.