CHENNAI: Pongal could turn to be less sugary this year as sugarcane prices surged on Friday due to lack of stock and traders fear the prices may spiral if expected loads fail to arrive on Saturday morning. A fine quality sugarcane bundle sold between Rs 250 and Rs 350 last Pongal is being sold between Rs 400 and Rs 450 on Friday evening, owing to shortage of stock. “The price may shoot up to even Rs 800, if sufficient stock doesn’t come in the morning,” said J Srinivasan, a sugarcane vendor at T Nagar.
The Pongal sugarcane supply for Chennai comes from Salem, Erode, Cuddalore, Madurai, Krishnagiri and Thanjavur. Over 200 trucks of sugarcane arrived at the wholesale perishable goods market at Koyambedu on Friday, each carrying about 15 tonnes.
Expecting another 300 trucks of cane on Saturday, S Muthukumar, a wholesale sugarcane vendor at Koyambedu, said the vendors would finish selling all their stocks on Saturday. He said the shortage this year was caused by the government’s procurement of sugarcane for supply at the fair price shops.
He added that sugarcane vendors are expecting heavy sales on Saturday. “The market was dull due to the bus strike. But now that the strike is over now, we’re expecting heavy sales on Saturday,” he told Express.