Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc said on Monday that it did not suspend sales of sugar as claimed by its rival BUA Foods Plc.
BUA Foods had in an advertorial published on Monday said Flour Mills suspended sugar sales because the 2022 raw sugar allocation had been declined by the government.
It also accused Dangote Sugar of halting sales of the product in a bid to create scarcity and force prices to go up.
BUA Foods said, “We have been inundated with calls from our customers that Dangote Sugar and Flour Mills have both suspended sales of Sugar, seeking to know if BUA will follow suit. We would like to reassure our customers that BUA is not joining the suspension of sales of sugar.
“Whilst the suspension of sales of Sugar by Flour Mills may be understandable because the 2022 raw sugar allocation has been declined by the government due to compliance issues, we do not understand why Dangote has joined.
“In our opinion, this stoppage may be intended to create scarcity, force the prices to artificially go up, profiteer even more, and blackmail the government to review the denial of allocation to Flour Mills due to compliance issues.”
BUA Foods said the government should not be blackmailed into rescinding a compliance-based decision and the process should be allowed to follow its due and proper course.
The company said it was ready to halt all sugar exports to cater for the needs of the local population should the need arise. It warned that any of its distributors found culpable of hoarding the product would be delisted with immediate effect.
When contacted on Monday, the Corporate Communications Manager, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mr Samuel Iboroma, told The PUNCH that it was untrue that the company suspended the sales of sugar.
He said this could be confirmed from the company’s dealers, adding that the National Sugar Development Council would hold a press conference on Wednesday to address the matter.
A Dangote Group spokesperson said the company would speak on the matter on Tuesday.
