Sindh blames Centre for flour price hike

Traders say smuggling, hoarding causing crisis in province

KARACHI: The hike in the price of wheat flour in Sindh took a turn for the worse on Saturday amid allegations of hoarding, while the wholesalers cut back on their clientele despite the provincial government’s claims that it was continuing the wheat supply to the flourmills at a subsidised rate.

Smuggling of Sindh’s flour to Afghanistan via Balochistan is seen by many as a reason for the crisis in the province. However, Sindh Food Minister Ismail Rahu said the crisis was artificial and that the federal government was responsible for “this tsunami of dearness”.

On Saturday, wheat flour was sold in the open market at Rs6,200-6,500 per 100 kilogrammes after registering an increase of Rs1,500 to 1,700. It was witnessed in the market that the wholesalers were only entertaining their regular customers.

M Nadeem Islam, a flour trader in the city’s Jodia Bazaar, told The Express Tribune that about 100 to 150 trucks of flour were smuggled from Karachi to Afghanistan via Balochistan every day. “They take a profit of more than Rs200 per bag,” he said, adding that the smuggling had created the crisis.

Shahid Abbas, a retail seller, accused the flour mills of being responsible for the crisis. “I went to several flour mills. They display the price of 10kg flour bag at Rs430. They have stocks but they are not selling it at that price,” he said.

“In Jodia Bazaar, a 50kg bag is being sold at Rs2,900 to Rs3,000. How it is possible that a retailer buys commodity at higher rate and sells it at a low price,” he asked. “Consequently, the retailers add Rs10 as their profit and are selling it at Rs70 per kilogramme,” he added.

Islam, a trader in Jodia Bazaar, said enough wheat stock was hidden in the warehouses in interior Sindh but the mills increased the prices on the pretext of wheat shortage. The mills have restricted their sales to a select clientele that is too at Rs2,850-2,900, he added.

“If the government announces incentives for giving tips, these hidden stocks could be recovered. The government can overcome the flour crisis by controlling the smuggling and recovering the stashed stocks,” the trader added.

However, Rahu, the Sindh minister, said the crisis is artificial. He said the provincial government has procured 400,000 tonnes of wheat from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco).

“We are giving 100,000 tonnes of wheat to the flour mills at the subsidised rate of Rs3,400 per 100kg. The remaining stock of 300,000 tonnes will reach Karachi on Monday and will be released to the mills, immediately,” Rahu told The Express Tribune.

Rahu blamed the Centre for the flour price hike in Sindh, saying the steps taken by the federal government have increased the prices of essential commodities. “The Sindh government has directed all the deputy commissioners to crack down on the hoarders and profiteers.”