Saudi Gazette Worldwide, sugar prices have reduced considerably, but little significant reduction was witnessed in the Kingdom. However, Muhammad Hamed Al-Kelaibi, Executive Director of the United Sugar Company said it is exerting efforts to reduce the sugar prices by 19 percent in the country. The United Sugar Company is the major supplier and distributor of sugar in the Kingdom for all grocery stores, supermarkets, baking industries, and other businesses. Al-Kelaibi said that in the last six months prices of sugar decreased around the world, but no such decrease was seen in the Kingdom. “There has been no response in the Kingdom to the worldwide drop in sugar prices. The Consumer Protection Association calls on all local merchants to conform to price reductions in the international market. There has been a recent decrease in the prices of almost all nutritional products, and the price of sugar in the global market today is 18 percent lower than its price in July last year. We expected that the sugar prices in the local markets would be influenced by this worldwide reduction, but no such reduction has been seen yet in our major cities,” said Dr. Naser Al-Twaim, President of the CPA. The United Sugar Company announced that internationally, the price of sugar has gone down from SR185 to SR150 for a 50 kg bag, which is 19 percent decline in the cost of sugar. However, a brief tour of the local grocery stores shows that the price of sugar in Jeddah did not budge and has remained the same over the past six months. For consumer's information, the price of sugar in the local markets ranges between SR8.95 and SR10.05 for a two kg bag, and SR20 and SR22.5 for a five kg bag, and SR42 and SR44.95 for a 10 kg bag of sugar. Actions will be taken by the Consumer Protection Agency to ensure a reduction in sugar prices for local consumers and to stabilize the prices of nutritional commodities in general. “We will be investigating the prices of nutrition commodities in the local markets to protect consumers from unreasonable spikes in prices. Studies are being conducted to follow any price reductions in the international market and the CPA will demand similar price reductions in the supermarkets and stores here in the Kingdom. Members of the CPA will be doing field work to also compare the prices of nutritional commodities between one supermarket and another. The CPA will communicate with the Ministry of Commerce to curb the rise in prices of food items,” said Al-Twaim. Data analysis from the United Sugar Company estimated that Saudis along with expats living in Saudi Arabia consume 70,000 to 80,000 tons of sugar each month, with slight fluctuations depending on the season. The Kingdom produces 1.3 million tons of sugar per year, which provides a consistent supply of sugar for its people. Al-Kelaibi is optimistic that consumers in the Kingdom will witness a gradual yet sustainable decline in sugar prices in the upcoming next six months. He attributes this expected decline in sugar prices will be due to the surplus in production of sugar worldwide, which will in turn make businesses reduce their prices as well. __
