Wheat and Flour Price Crisis Persists in Karachi Amid Supply Delays and Low-Quality Government Wheat

Karachi: The ongoing wheat and flour price crisis in Karachi shows no signs of easing, as concerns over low-quality government wheat and delayed deliveries from the Sindh government continue to drive prices higher.

According to Abdul Junaid, Chairman of the Flour Mills Association, the government-provided wheat lacks proper nutrition and must be mixed with new wheat to produce flour, significantly increasing production costs and putting prices beyond the reach of ordinary consumers. Delays in wheat supply from the government to local flour mills have further escalated flour prices in Karachi.

Wholesale and retail markets are facing additional risks of price hikes. Abdul Junaid noted that three-year-old government wheat lacks nutritional value, and the need to blend it with fresh wheat has raised costs, with old wheat priced at Rs 80 per kilogram and the fresh wheat added at Rs 110 per kilogram. This makes it difficult to supply affordable flour in the wholesale market, and retail rates are often set arbitrarily.

Rauf Ibrahim, Chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association, stated that while the Commissioner of Karachi plans to issue a new official flour price list within the next one to two days, open market prices have doubled over the past four months—from Rs 55 per kilogram to Rs 110 per kilogram.

With wheat supplies from Sindh being sent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, prices in the open market could rise to Rs 110–125 per kilogram. Fine flour in Karachi may reach Rs 145 per kilogram, while prices could hit Rs 160 per kilogram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rs 155 per kilogram in Balochistan.

Currently, flour mills are selling Rs 90 per kilogram flour at Rs 113 in wholesale markets, while second-grade flour sells at Rs 115 and fine flour at Rs 120 per kilogram. In retail markets, second-grade flour is priced at Rs 125 per kilogram and fine flour at Rs 130 per kilogram. The Commissioner of Karachi has set official rates at Rs 94 per kilogram for wholesale second-grade flour and Rs 98 per kilogram for retail.