BSMAL appeals for suspension of future trading

Mumbai, Mar 13 (UNI) The Bombay Sugar Merchants' Association Ltd (BSMAL) has appealed to central government for immediate suspension of future trading in the sugar market as sugar prices had tremendously risen in the past few weeks due false speculations.

The sugar price, which was quoted around Rs 1290 per quintal in the last week of February, has now gone up to Rs 1,420 per quintal, which was an unprecedented increase, the association said in a letter, addressed to the Prime Minister, Union Finance Minister and Union Agriculture Minister.

The association also stated that this situation had arisen because of hightly speculative activities in the Sugar Future Exchanges.

''The eighty per cent speculators, operating in the Sugar Future Exchange, are not genuine sugar dealers and want to make a fast buck by their speculative activities and are trying to create a psychosis of low availability of sugar because of good export demand,'' BSMAL President Ashok Jain said in the letter.

At present, speculators have an advantage of knowing the exact quantity available for every month and hence they try to manipulate market prices within the limited availability of fixed quantity of sugar, he added.

UNI NV/PP OBB AG2000