Despite Ample Wheat Stocks, Flour Prices Rise in Karachi and Sindh

Karachi: Despite sufficient government and private wheat reserves in Sindh, the wholesale and retail prices of wheat and flour have once again increased across the province, including Karachi.

Chairman of the Retail Grocers Association, Farid Qureshi, told *Express* that on September 22, the Sindh government had fixed the wholesale price of flour at Rs. 94 per kg and the retail price at Rs. 98 per kg. However, in recent days, the wholesale price of wheat has climbed from Rs. 86 to Rs. 93 per kg, resulting in an increase of Rs. 3 per kg in the retail price of both fine and No. 2.5 flour.

Qureshi added that if flour mills supplied flour at the officially fixed Rs. 94 per kg, retailers could sell it at Rs. 98 per kg. Instead, mills are supplying flour at higher rates, leading to arbitrary price hikes at the retail level. He pointed out that mills are currently supplying No. 2.5 flour at Rs. 104 per kg and fine flour at Rs. 112 per kg—well above the government’s set rates of Rs. 94 and Rs. 100 per kg, respectively. He urged the Sindh government to take immediate notice and enforce its pricing policies.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the All Pakistan Flour Mills Association, Abdul Junaid Aziz, confirmed that the open market price of wheat has risen by Rs. 7 to Rs. 93 per kg. Nevertheless, he maintained that local flour mills are supplying No. 2.5 flour at Rs. 100–101 per kg and fine flour at Rs. 107–107.5 per kg.

Aziz emphasized that there is no wheat crisis at present, and the price fluctuations are based on supply and demand. He noted that while Punjab’s informal wheat restrictions remain in place, Sindh currently holds 1.3 million tons of government wheat reserves, with additional stocks available in the private sector and flour mills. However, Sindh’s mills will require larger reserves by December and January to meet demand.