Flour prices on rise

The wheat flour prices have once again shot up in the market and 20 kilogrammes of a flour bag is being sold at Rs 305-310 per bag in the retail. The ex-mill price has been increased from earlier Rs 281 per 20-Kg bag to Rs 290 per 20-kg bag. Pakistan Flourmills Association (Punjab Zone) Chairman Haji Maqsud Ahmad told Business Recorder that flour would be available in the retail market at Rs 300 per bag.
Maqsud said the increase in the price of flour was inevitable in the wake of increasing price of wheat in the market. According to him, wheat is available in Lahore from Rs 540 to 560 per 40 kilogrammes and Rs 580 per 40 kilogrammes in Rawalpindi. When asked what impact release of wheat from government stock brought on the prices, he alleged they were given commitment to release 30 bags per roller body to the flourmills but they are being given only 25 bag per roller body per day.
He said he and his colleagues in the Association held a meeting with the Secretary Food Punjab yesterday and with Director Food today to discuss the issue and urged them that flour mills should be given 40 bags per roller body instead of 25 bags per roller body daily. He said it would help arresting the upward trend of the flour.
He said they have urged the Food Department Punjab that they should issue 40 bags per roller body for Ramazan at least to facilitate the consumers. Haji Maqsud also claimed that during meeting with the Director Food today they demanded that quota of wheat for three days should be released to the mills in advance besides stopping wheat supply in non-milling areas. "Our demands were accepted by the food director," Maqsud said.
Former PFMA (Punjab Zone) chairman Khaliq Arshad said they felt quota being released to flourmills is enough only for three grinding hours which is meagre to meet the requirement of the market. He also demanded increasing the quota from 25 per bag to 40 bags per roller body and expressed the hope that it would give a good message to the market and help stabilise the prices of this commodity.
Indo-Pak Flour Millers Confederation Chairman Dr Bilal Sufi also termed the quota being released from the Food Department Punjab as insufficient to arrest the increasing prices. He said rising prices of wheat in the market made all helpless from maintaining the flour prices. He also urged the government to import wheat to stabilise the prices of this commodity in the country.