Despite the unavailability of brown sugar in the local market, Lanka Sugar Company is denying the existence of a shortage.

Responding to queries by The Sunday Morning yesterday (5), Lanka Sugar Company Chairperson Sandamali Chandrasekara said that reports of shortages were inaccurate and claimed that the company in fact had a surplus of brown sugar.

“There is a surplus of brown sugar and we release quite a bit to the market. We sell sugar directly and we have a sale every two weeks. It is not accurate to say that there is a shortage, at least not one that I am aware of,” she said.

She further explained that there was a price gap in the market between white sugar and brown sugar, with the lower price of white sugar driving consumers to purchase the latter.

Attempts to contact Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe and Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Deputy Minister R.M. Jayawardana were unsuccessful.

In May, The Sunday Morning reported that Sri Lanka’s sugar industry was on the brink of collapse as thousands of metric tonnes of locally produced brown sugar remained stuck in storage, unable to reach the market due to a failed Government-appointed distribution system.