Pakistan : Wheat disappears after crackdown
Pakistan: Hyderabad’s crackdown on wheat hoarding has disrupted supplies, pushing chakki flour prices to Rs145/kg, above the official Rs136/kg rate. Dealers allegedly restricted wheat sales despite lower quoted prices, prompting millers to seek government wheat imports and market intervention to stabilize supplies and prices.
HYDERABAD : Following the district administration’s crackdown against profiteers, wheat has disappeared from the shops.
Due to the shortage, chakki flour in Hyderabad is being sold at Rs145 per kg, Rs9 above the government-fixed retail price.
According to chakki owners, dealers are quoting Rs11,000 per 100kg sack of wheat but are not releasing stock. As a result, chakki owners are being forced to buy expensive wheat on their own.
A few days ago, assistant commissioners and the Food Department began inspecting warehouses and took several thousand sacks of hoarded wheat into government custody.
For the first time, the deputy commissioner Hyderabad announced flour rates on his official social media page instead of through a notification, fixing retail price at Rs125 per kg for mill flour and Rs136 per kg for chakki flour four days ago.
Before the crackdown, a 100kg wheat sack was selling for up to Rs11,800 in Hyderabad’s open market. After the raids it dropped to Rs11,000. However, by Saturday the price had again climbed to Rs11,700 per sack.
Sources said the wheat mafia has reduced supply to chakki and flour mill owners to avoid further action.
Chakki owners said they usually stock wheat in advance and the current stock was bought at high rates, so selling at the government-fixed Rs136 per kg means losses. After the administration began sealing chakkis, owners are selling at the official rate out of fear but in limited quantities. The shortfall has pushed market prices up.
In several areas of Hyderabad and Latifabad, chakki flour is being sold at Rs145 per kg. A chakki owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said dealers quote Rs11,000 per sack at their offices but actually sell at Rs11,600 to Rs11,700. They also refuse delivery, asking buyers to lift wheat from warehouses in other districts so that dealers do not face losses if consignments are seized on the way.
“Until the government fixes wheat prices in the open market, supply will not normalize and flour prices will not come down,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 3-member delegation of the Hyderabad Chakki Owners Welfare Association led by Vice President Farooq Rathore met Sindh Food Secretary Ghulam Abbas Naich and Director Food Allah Dino Chanah at the Sindh Secretariat in Karachi.
The delegation apprised officials of the wheat crisis, rising prices, and anxiety among chakki owners over cancellation of wholesale licenses. They urged the government to immediately import wheat to control the crisis and prices in Sindh.
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Source : The Express Tribune
