Wheat flour up by Rs 125 per 80 kg

Wheat flour price on the eve of the holy month of Ramazan surged by Rs 125 per 80 kilograms, reaching the mark of Rs 1,425 per 80 kilograms due to short supply of wheat in the province, said market sources. The stocks so far released by the provincial government to the mills were insufficient to meet the mills demand, resulting in price hike, they added.
With this increase in the price, flour is now being sold at Rs 1,425 per 80 kilogram, which was earlier available at Rs 1,300 per 80 kilograms. Similarly, wheat price reached Rs 1,525 per 100 kilograms, mounting from Rs 1,450 per 100 kilograms on Thursday due to non-supply of the commodity from Punjab, they pointed out.
Now, the wheat flour is selling at Rs 18 per kilogram up from Rs 16 per kilogram ex-mill price in the wholesale market, indicating further rise in prices in the retail market.
They said it was surprising that 23.5 million tonnes of wheat, soon after reaching the local market, were disappeared. Criticising the government, they said that it failed to manage the supply of wheat in a proper way, and instead allowed its export on cheaper rates, which resulted in price hike.
They held export of wheat flour via land routes to neighbouring Afghanistan responsible behind this continued trend of price hike of the commodity, which should be banned at the earliest in the greater interest of local people, who were buying it at higher rates.
About the low stocks of wheat, the millers linked this problem to smuggling via Sindh and Punjab borders, which, they said, should be checked. They were critical of the of the government's export policy, saying that the commodity that was exported at 170 dollars per ton would now be imported at 400 dollars per ton to fulfil the local demand.
Similarly, retailers said that low stocks of wheat would give rise to its related products, including Suji, Maida etc, in Ramazan. They feared that the present situation was somehow going towards the worst wheat crisis after 1997 during Mian Nawaz Sharif's second term in office. They said if smuggling of wheat was not stopped, its price in retail market would surpass the mark of Rs 30 per kilogram during the current season.