After a brief respite, wheat flour price has again shot up by Rs 50 per 80 kilograms in the local market due to increasing rates of wheat grain, said traders on Tuesday. With this increase, the flour price in the retail market reached Rs 17 from Rs 15 per kilogram, whereas in the wholesale market, it witnessed a surge of Rs 50 bringing the price to Rs 1,350 per 80 kilograms.
Traders held the hike in wheat price responsible for the current upsurge in the wheat flour price, which reached Rs 1,550 per 100 kilogram.
Besides, insufficient transportation facility ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr was another major reason behind the increase in wheat price, as the millers were not getting enough supply of the commodity.
They pointed out that most of transport operators had gone to their homes to celebrate the Eid, which also affected the transportion of wheat.
It is observed that the traders always linked the flour price with the movement of wheat and its price, and ruled out any decline in the price of wheat and the flour before Eid-ul-Fitr.
After exorbitant rise in the price of wheat on September 19, the price came down when the Federal government announced to import one million tonnes of wheat to overcome the crisis in the country. However, it was the first increase in wheat price since the government's decision.
This time the traders did not hold the wheat smuggling as a prime cause behind the mounting flour price. Meanwhile, the retailers criticised the government for not taking effective measures to stabilise the prices of essential commodities prior to Eid-ul-Fitr.
Earlier, with the announcement of the provincial government to release its wheat stocks to ease the flour crisis in the province, but it prove an exercise in futility as the common man continued to buy the commodity at exorbitant rates.