Pakistan : No major change in flour price despite full supply from food dept
Retail flour prices in Hyderabad dipped marginally despite ample government wheat stocks, as most supplies go to roller mills, not chakkies. Chakki owners cite inadequate quotas, forcing costly open-market purchases. Authorities halted misallocated quotas, while relief may come with new wheat arrivals by late February–March.
HYDERABAD: The retail flour price recorded a little drop despite adequate release of wheat by the food department, though mostly to roller flour mills, for Rs8,000 per a 100kg bag.
The Sindh food department has notified the ex-mill price at Rs1,040 and the retail price at Rs1,070 per 10kg only on Jan 26 under a directive of the provincial chief secretary following a surge in flour price. However, the price of flour produced by chakkies in and outside Hyderabad is still stands Rs130-135 per kg.
Chakki owners attributed the trend to an insufficient supply of wheat to them by the food department.
Since chakki owners are getting inadequate supplies — 88kg per stone per day — they are forced to buy more wheat from the open market at a higher rate, according to them.
Their contention is that since flour mills’ owners are getting food department’s wheat at a lower rate after the recent revision of the issue price, i.e. Rs8,000 against the earlier rate of Rs9,500 per 40kg, the same quantity is available in the open market at a higher price, thus the raise in the per-kg cost of flour produced by chakkies.
The provincial government on the request of the food department had to revise the issue price downward to bring it at a par with the open market price and encourage millers to lift wheat from the food department godowns, where a stock of close to 1.3m tonnes is available.
Flour millers’ view
According to the All Pakistan Flour Mills Association’s South Zone President Junaid Aziz, the open market price of wheat in Karachi remained Rs11,000 until Saturday. “It dropped from Rs11,400-Rs11,600 to Rs11,000 lately,” he said.
According to him, flour millers are providing the flour made from government supplied wheat at the notified price in a bag different from the one containing the flour produced from the open market wheat offered at the ex-mill rate of Rs114 per kg.
He said that millers have been receiving supplies regularly and they are ready to offer flour at the notified retail price of Rs107 per kg.
He maintained that flour price was increasing since the open market is exhausting. Otherwise, wheat had been available for Rs9,500 per 100kg until one month back.
Chakki owners’ woes
The drop in the price of chakki flour is negligible. According to Atta Chakki Owners Social Welfare Association President Haji Mohammad Memon, the wheat’s price has dropped marginally, i.e. from Rs11,500 to Rs11,000, and since they are procuring wheat from the open market, in addition to the insufficient quota being released by the food department, the overhead cost remains on a higher side.
“The 88kg per stone per chakki is just peanuts and that’s why we need to buy more wheat from the open market as well. We believe that our quota is partly being supplied to flour millers,” he said.
He alleged that there are some other kinds of misappropriation. “Wheat is being released by the food department against closed flour mills,” he claimed.
Action by administration
Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zain Ul Abiden Memon said that release of wheat quota against three non-functional mills had been discontinued. This wheat quota was being transported to other districts from the city which has now been stopped. “We have requested the food secretary to adjust this quota against functioning mills so that supplies remain intact for flour production,” he said.
The DC conceded that the problem of chakki owners was needed to be resolved indeed, because they served as the principal source of flour supplies to consumers, not only within the city, but in rural parts of the district as well.
Fresh stocks
The new wheat crop would be marketed by late February or early March. The Sindh government has offered a procurement price of Rs3,500 per 40kg to growers. The procurement usually begins in the March-April period. Farmers are keeping their fingers crossed over the offer for the 2025-26 crop. Wheat acreage over and above sowing target has been achieved, according to the agriculture extension department director general.
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Source : Dawn
