Flour mill owners in Sindh slash the prices up to Rs 10 per kg

Flour mill owners in Sindh have slashed the prices up to Rs 10 per kg, report.

After record price fluctuations in recent weeks, flour mill owners in Sindh have slashed prices of various types of flour by up to Rs 10 per kg. This expresses some mercy to consumers ahead of Ramadan.

According to Dawn newspaper, the price of a 50 kg bag of two and a half flour has been reduced from Rs 6,900 to Rs 6,400 (Rs 128 per kg), while the price of fine flour and maida has been reduced from Rs 7,000. 6 thousand 500 rupees per 50 kg (130 rupees per kg).

Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Sindh Zone Chairman Chaudhry Aamir Abdullah said that officials of the Sindh Food Department had assured the farmers and millers during a meeting that wheat trucks coming from the interior of Sindh would be transported to Karachi, and will not be occupied after which the prices were reduced.

The millers had complained that the food department officials forcibly seized these trucks and unloaded the wheat at government godowns in Landhi to meet wheat procurement targets.

Another reason for the downward trend in prices is the arrival of fresh crop wheat in the open market, which has eased supply pressure and consequently improved wheat availability.

Chairman Flour Mills Association Sindh said the food department officials heard the complaints of the millers and promised to resolve the issue amicably.

He expressed the possibility that after a productive meeting, it is expected that the price of wheat will come down from Rs.12,000 to Rs.10,500 per 100 kg in the coming week.

Meanwhile, a mill owner said that Karachi needs 10,000 tonnes of wheat per day for grinding, but around 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes are being supplied.

He said that it is hoped that the situation of wheat supply from inside Sindh will improve next week after removing the obstacles in the way of the arrival of wheat in Karachi.

It should be noted that the practice of confiscation of wheat trucks coming to Karachi from inside Sindh was prevalent for many years, while the mill owners have been demanding the Sindh Food Department instead of confiscating the vehicles of the private sector and farmers for Karachi, they by themselves order wheat from farmers.

According to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, during the week ending March 16 in Karachi, the rate of a 20 kg bag of wheat increased from 2 thousand 800 to 2 thousand 900 rupees to 2 thousand 900 to 3 thousand 100 rupees, while exactly one year ago, a 20 kg bag of flour was available for Rs 11 to 14 40.