KARACHI, Feb 10 (Reuters): Pakistan said yesterday it has removed the import duty on raw and refined sugar, a major obstacle to meeting the country's shortfall in sugar and checking runaway prices. Masood Alam Rizvi, chairman of the state-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan, said the cabinet's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved removal of the 25 per cent import duty Tuesday. Pakistan prices soared to a three-and-half-year high of 30 rupees/kg on February 5. The country, which usually does not import sugar, has had a bad sugarcane crop this year due to low rainfall. In London, the news lifted LIFFE March white sugar futures LSUH5 to $270.00 a tonne, up from Tuesday's close of $267.90. The ECC has also allowed traders to import sugar (raw or refined) up to whatever quantity they can handle, Rizvi said. Prices in New York and London have been rising this week on talk that Pakistan would emerge as a major sugar buyer. Last week Ashfaq Hasan Khan, an adviser to the Finance Ministry, told Reuters the government planned to import one million tonnes.
|