Rise in POL products rates: Prices of most essential kitchen items witness upward trend

ISLAMABAD: Following an increase in petrol, CNG and high speed diesel oil (HSD) rates, prices of most of the essential kitchen items especially sugar, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), vegetables, have witnessed an increase during this week past as compared with the previous week, revealed a survey conducted by Business Recorder here on Saturday.

The survey revealed sugar price went up from Rs 5,000 per 50kg bag to Rs 5,050 per 50kg bag in wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs 112 per kg against Rs 110 per kg, eggs price went up from Rs 4,550 per carton to Rs 4,600 per carton, which in retail is being sold at Rs 165 per dozen.

During the week under review, the LPG prices were twice increased as it went up from Rs 160 per kg to Rs 180 per kg and domestic cylinder of 15kg price jumped from Rs 2,400 per cylinder to Rs 1,650 per cylinder.

The government besides increasing CNG prices has also suspended gas supply to CNG stations across the country owing to which taxi, minivan and rickshaw drivers have increased fares, which has resulted in pushing up the prices.

Moreover, the increase in petrol and HSD prices has forced transporters to increase the fares, which played a significant role in taking up the prices of all the daily use items as well as other necessities.

However, chicken price went down from Rs 6,800 per 40kg to Rs 5,800 per 40kg in wholesale market, while in retail market, chicken is being sold at Rs 165 against Rs 180 per kg and chicken meat is being sold at Rs 280 per kg against Rs 320 per kg.

No variations were witnessed in cooked food items at average hotels as cooked vegetable plate is available at Rs 120, cooked daal plate at Rs 120, chicken haleem plate at Rs 210, curry plate at Rs 140, cooked chicken plate at Rs 250, qeema plate at Rs 26, and roti at Rs 12.

Ghee and cooking oil prices which kept witnessing an increasing trend during past many months remained unchanged during this week as a result best quality ghee/cooking oil like Dalda ghee/cooking is being sold at Rs 1,720 per 5 litre tin.

B-grade ghee/cooking price also remained stable which last week witnessed an increase from Rs 3,500 per 16-pack carton to Rs 3,800 per carton, while in retail it is being sold at Rs 255-260 per 900gram pack.

Since December 2020, best quality ghee/cooking oil price has witnessed an increase of Rs 110 per kg from Rs 250 per kg to Rs 360 per kg, while B-grade ghee/cooking oil price increased by Rs90 per pack of 900grams from Rs 160 to Rs 250 per pack.

Powder Milk Nido Bunyad and Nido prices have jumped from Rs 750 per 900gram pack to Rs 830 per pack and from Rs 950 to Rs 1,050 per pack respectively. Soft drinks such as Coca Cola and Pepsi prices have jumped from Rs480 per carton of six bottles to Rs 530 per carton.

Wheat flour price remained stable at Rs 1,130 per 20kg bag in the wholesale market, while in the retail market it is being sold at Rs 150 per 20kg bag. The government sponsored subsidised wheat flour is not being supplied in the open market.

No changes were observed in packed milk prices such as Milk Pak and Olper, which is available at Rs 42.5 per pack and litre pack at Rs 160 per pack. Fresh milk and yogurt prices also remained unchanged at Rs140 per kg and Rs150 per kg respectively.

Prices of the various brands of rice which witnessed an increase during the past week but remained unchanged during this week as best quality Basmati rice price is available at Rs 6,800 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs 180 per kg, while normal quality rice brands are being sold at Rs 80 per kg to Rs 120 per kg.

Pulses prices, which were increased in the past week remained unchanged during this week as maash is available at Rs 8,600 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs 240 per kg, best quality lentil at Rs 5,350 per 40kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs 160 per kg.

Best quality bean lentil at Rs 8,400 per bag which in retail is being sold at Rs 230 per kg, masoor at Rs 5,300 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs 150 per kg, best quality whole gram at Rs 5,500 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs 160 per kg and moong at Rs 6,500 per 40kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs 170 per kg.

A comparison of the prevailing market prices with the prices computed by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed a serious difference as the PBS has mentioned sugar price at Rs 103.09 per kg, while in the market on an average sugar is available at Rs 112 per kg.

Similarly, the PBS mentioned Dalda ghee/cooking oil price Rs1,637.56 per 5kg tin, while in the market it is being sold at Rs1,720 per 5kg tin.

The PBS mentioned wheat flour price of Rs 1,128 per 20kg bag but in the market it is available at Rs 1,150 per 20kg bag.

Fresh milk price at Rs 110.89 per kg, while in the market it is being sold at Rs 140 per kg, cooked daal plate at an average hotel is available at Rs 120 per plate against the PBS mentioned price of Rs 79.88 per plate, mutton in rural areas of Rawalpindi/Islamabad is available at Rs 1,250 per kg, while the PBS has mentioned it at Rs 1,113.87 per kg, while in urban areas of the twin cities mutton is being sold at Rs 1,360 per kg.

The PBS has mentioned beef with bones price at Rs 541.02, while it is being sold in the range of Rs 600/650 per kg, while boneless beef is available at Rs 750 per kg.

The survey noted an increasing trend in the prices of vegetables as potato price went up from Rs 200 per 5kg to Rs 225 per 5kg, which in retail are still being sold at Rs 50-55 per kg against Rs 48-50 per kg, tomatoes price went up from Rs 200 per 5kg to Rs 325 per 5kg in the wholesale market, which in retail are being sold at Rs 75 per kg against Rs 50 per kg, onion price also went up from Rs 190 per 5kg to Rs 210 per 5kg, which in retail are being sold at Rs 50 per kg.

Ginger price went down from Rs 2,800 per 5kg to Rs 2,500 per 5kg, which in retail market is being sold at Rs 570 per kg against Rs 620 per kg and Quetta garlic price went down from Rs 950 per 5kg to Rs 900 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs 230 per kg against Rs 240 per kg.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021