ISLAMABAD, APR 6 – The share of JDW Sugar Mills Limited, owned by PTI’s Jahangir Khan Tareen, hit its lowest limit after falling Rs21.05 from its opening price on Monday.

The market reaction comes after the prime minister’s inquiry committee, which was investigating the recent sugar crisis, identified Tareen’s mills as the largest beneficiary of total export subsidies worth Rs2.4 billion that the Punjab government gave to sugar mills based in the province.

The report, published on Saturday, cited untimely exports as the major cause of the sugar crisis in Pakistan, which started last year and continues to date. Tareen’s sugar mills availed Rs561 million or 22.71% of the total export subsidy, according to the report, which identified several key figures with political clout and influence in policy and administration as the main beneficiaries of the export subsidy.

The JDW stock, which closed at Rs280 on the weekend, fell 7.5%, the highest threshold by which a share can rise or fall in a day, withing minutes after the market opened on Monday. The KSE-100 index, a gauge to measure the market’s performance, was down 2.6% when this report went online (at 2:40pm).

JDW’s share was worth Rs159.64 when its trade halted as per the rules of the stock market. The stock had reached a peak of Rs614 on January 23, 2017. Though only 800 shares were traded, it is a hot pick in sugar stocks and has a market capitalization (value of shares available for trade on the stock market) of Rs15.5 billion.

JDW Sugar Mills comprise of three units, two of which are located in Rahim Yar Khan in south Punjab and one is located in Ghotki, Sindh. It accounts for 17% of the country’s total sugar product