Flour prices set to fall as imported wheat arrives in Pakistan

Three ships have docked, two are on way to Karachi

KARACHI:

Flour prices are expected to go down across the country following the arrival of three ships carrying wheat imported by the private sector.

Earlier, the supply of the staple crop dropped in Pakistan owing to bad weather, Covid-19 lockdown and mismanagement in the commodity’s procurement. Owing to the scarcity, the price of a 10kg bag of flour increased from Rs600 to Rs700 a few months ago.

In response to the price hike, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet gave the go-ahead to the private sector for import of 2.5 million tons of wheat in late June aimed at bridging the demand-supply gap and reducing the prices.

“At Karachi Port, two out of three ships carrying wheat have been offloaded,” said Cereal Association of Pakistan Chairman Muzammil Chappal. “Two more ships are on their way to Pakistan waters and will be docked next week.”

“Overall, Pakistan has ordered 600,000 tons of wheat consignments,” he said, adding that due to the gap between demand and supply, the government allowed businessmen duty-free import of wheat.

When the imported wheat would be available in markets, prices were expected to come down by Rs5-7 per kg because the demand-side pressure would ease, he said.

The association official added that the country faced a deficit of 1.5 million tons of wheat in the current year.

The private sector can afford to import more wheat only if prices in the international market stay stable.

Following the wheat shortage, the ECC also ordered the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to arrange wheat imports.

On the other hand, it permitted provinces to import wheat according to their needs. During the lockdown, the provincial governments and district authorities could only move wheat in limited quantities, remarked Sindh Abadgar Board Vice President Mahmood Nawaz Shah.

“This disrupted supply chain of the commodity, which eventually disturbed wheat supply in the country,” he said.

The wheat-carrying vessels are being inspected by a team of experts from the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) for mandatory quarantine examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2020.

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