Flour mills call off strike as ban removed
Millers can now purchase wheat from any district of the province.
KARACHI:
The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) on Friday called off its strike after meeting with the Sindh food minister who agreed to lift the ban on inter-district movement of wheat and flour in the province.
PFMA Sindh Circle Chairman Mian Mehmoodul Hasan informed that the decision was taken in a meeting on Friday morning in which the Sindh government accepted their demand. “Our demand was to ease restrictions on flour mills. Now mills can purchase wheat from any district of Sindh and can also bring wheat to Karachi,” he said.
After PFMA gave the strike call on Wednesday, flour prices in Karachi rose Rs2 per kg the next day, he said, adding that it was because some people created an artificial shortage of the commodity in the city.
Mills have huge quantities of flour and the shortage will end when fresh supplies reach the market, he said. “From Saturday morning, I am sure flour prices in Karachi will come down to previous levels,” he added.
Replying to a question, he said flour mill owners had not blackmailed the Sindh government on the issue of inter-district transport ban. “We wanted the government to understand the ground realities and that the decision to ban the inter-district movement of wheat and flour was irrational,” he said.
It was a wrong decision and the government consequently lifted the ban for flour mills, but it will continue for others who bring wheat into Karachi, he said.
On their part, Sindh government officials said that the ban was slapped to procure wheat at the fixed rate of Rs950 per 40 kg to give farmers a fair return. However, the mills rejected this point and said the government’s move was aimed at bringing middlemen in the procurement process.
The flour mill owners claimed that the middlemen were buying wheat at Rs800 per 40 kg, Rs150 lower than the government rate and then selling the commodity to the government at a higher price.
Karachi has the highest flour consumption and the placement of the ban disrupted the transport of wheat to Karachi from other districts of Sindh province, flour millers said.
In the previous week, the government banned inter-district movement of wheat and flour in Sindh, especially in adjacent districts of Karachi and districts on Sindh-Punjab border. The ban resulted in an increase in wheat prices in the open market by Rs100 per day on a 100kg bag.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.
The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) on Friday called off its strike after meeting with the Sindh food minister who agreed to lift the ban on inter-district movement of wheat and flour in the province.
PFMA Sindh Circle Chairman Mian Mehmoodul Hasan informed that the decision was taken in a meeting on Friday morning in which the Sindh government accepted their demand. “Our demand was to ease restrictions on flour mills. Now mills can purchase wheat from any district of Sindh and can also bring wheat to Karachi,” he said.
After PFMA gave the strike call on Wednesday, flour prices in Karachi rose Rs2 per kg the next day, he said, adding that it was because some people created an artificial shortage of the commodity in the city.
Mills have huge quantities of flour and the shortage will end when fresh supplies reach the market, he said. “From Saturday morning, I am sure flour prices in Karachi will come down to previous levels,” he added.
Replying to a question, he said flour mill owners had not blackmailed the Sindh government on the issue of inter-district transport ban. “We wanted the government to understand the ground realities and that the decision to ban the inter-district movement of wheat and flour was irrational,” he said.
It was a wrong decision and the government consequently lifted the ban for flour mills, but it will continue for others who bring wheat into Karachi, he said.
On their part, Sindh government officials said that the ban was slapped to procure wheat at the fixed rate of Rs950 per 40 kg to give farmers a fair return. However, the mills rejected this point and said the government’s move was aimed at bringing middlemen in the procurement process.
The flour mill owners claimed that the middlemen were buying wheat at Rs800 per 40 kg, Rs150 lower than the government rate and then selling the commodity to the government at a higher price.
Karachi has the highest flour consumption and the placement of the ban disrupted the transport of wheat to Karachi from other districts of Sindh province, flour millers said.
In the previous week, the government banned inter-district movement of wheat and flour in Sindh, especially in adjacent districts of Karachi and districts on Sindh-Punjab border. The ban resulted in an increase in wheat prices in the open market by Rs100 per day on a 100kg bag.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.