“The Department of Customs has set the sugar reference price at $460 per tonne. In addition, the import duty has been doubled. With this, the import cost of sugar has increased to Rs72 per kg,” said Pawan Kumar Sarda, president of the Morang Merchant Association. According to him, sugar costs Rs52 per kg in the bordering markets of India.
“Due to the price differential, the possibility of sugar being smuggled into Nepal is high,” he said. Sarda said that sugar was traded at $360 per tonne in the international market. Although the government moved to increase the import duty on sugar to protect domestic industry, traders said that it would not benefit consumers, sugarcane farmers or sugar producers.
The import bill for sugar entering Nepal through the dry port in Sirsiya, Birgunj surged by about 81 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, following a hike in shipments from Pakistan and Bangladesh where production of the commodity has soared.
“Due to the price differential, the possibility of sugar being smuggled into Nepal is high,” he said. Sarda said that sugar was traded at $360 per tonne in the international market. Although the government moved to increase the import duty on sugar to protect domestic industry, traders said that it would not benefit consumers, sugarcane farmers or sugar producers.
The import bill for sugar entering Nepal through the dry port in Sirsiya, Birgunj surged by about 81 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, following a hike in shipments from Pakistan and Bangladesh where production of the commodity has soared.
