The price increase of imported and locally manufactured dry milk has become a routine affair, surging further up by Rs 200 for the fifth consecutive time during last two weeks to have reached a record high level Rs 5600 to Rs 6200 per 25 kg bag. The commodity price has gone up by Rs 800 per 25 kg in the same period, trade source said on Thursday.
Irish brand dry milk price has reached Rs 6200 from Rs 6000 per 25 kg increasing by Rs 200 and Australian one swelled by Rs 100 coming to Rs 5900 per 25 kg bag. Similarly, locally manufactured powder milk price surged by Rs 200 per 25-kg bag, which is now available at Rs 5600 per 25 kg.
The recent upsurge is likely to shrink the common man's purchasing power by almost 75 percent, said a retailers and added that imported dry milk price has gone up significantly also in the retail market.
Irish brand commodity is now available at Rs 250 per kg up by Rs 18 per kg, and Australian item is sold at Rs 240 per kg with an increase of Rs 10-12 per kg in the retail market, he said. Regarding, locally manufactured dry milk price, he informed that it had reached Rs 230 per kg surging up by Rs 30 per kg in the wake of its increasing price in the wholesale market.
He pointed out that wholesalers keeping in view the constant increasing price of dry milk had stopped selling it, which is now scarce in the market. He said that booking deals by the Pakistani importers of dry milk had been cancelled by the Irish exporters today (Thursday) which would further bring about its price increase in June this year.
Regarding booking orders of dry milk, he said that earlier it had been finalised at Rs 6100 per 25-kg bag, which was cancelled by Irish exporters and now they would export the commodity on higher prices than the already set ones.
He said that dry milk import from Ireland would be more expensively sold at least in the range of Rs 6500-7000 per 25 kg. He demanded of government to clamp down on market players responsible for the price increase and ascertain the reasons pertaining to price hike, which had hit the retail market badly.
He said government should also give about 25 percent subsidy to public on both locally manufactured and imported dry milk to provide them with a relief so that they could use it as per their need. He said that the most affectees of dry milk price would be those children for whom it was prescribed. He said that government should also eliminate the elements regulating their monopoly in the local market bringing about the price hike of essential commodities.