KARACHI, Feb 21: The price of 16 kg ghee tins has gone up by Rs20-30 per tin, thus putting a heavy burden on a large number of consumers to pay Rs2 per kg more on purchasing loose ghee in just one day.

A brand of 16 kg ghee tin is now selling at Rs900 as compared to Rs880 a day back. Other brands, which were selling at Rs890 earlier, are now being sold at Rs920 per tin.

Similarly, a brand of loose ghee being sold from the 16 kg packs now costs Rs56 per kg as compared to Rs58, while another brand is being retailed at Rs60 per kg as against Rs58 a day earlier.

Likewise, the price of cooking oil in same tin packs has also surged.

The price of 16 kg ghee tins has been crawling up for the last one-and-a-half months. On January 1, 2004, the ghee tin was selling at Rs845, while a year back it was available at Rs825. And one-and-a-half months back, the loose ghee was being sold at Rs52 per kg.

Karachi Retail Grocers Group (KRGG) general secretary Mohammad Farid Qurieshi said ghee packers of these brands were attributing the price hike to the rising trend of edible oil in international markets.

Ghee and cooking oil makers of the organized sector are now carefully watching the market situation. According to the KRGG general secretary, the packers of branded ghee and cooking oil had so far not intimated retailers and wholesalers about the possibility of any price hike, thus keeping price still intact at old levels.

The rate of palm oil in Malaysian markets, which was $477 per ton on January 1, is now being quoted at $504 per ton. Due to upward trend in rates, imports of palm oil in January 2004 dropped to 94,520 tons ($46 million) as compared to 127,285 tons ($57 million) in December 2003 and 99,613 tons ($45 million) in January 2003. However, in July-January 2003-04, imports of palm oil surged by 13 and 20 per cent in terms of quantity and value to 790,681 tons ($358 million) from 695,892 tons ($299 million) in the same period of 2002-03.

Habib Oil Mills general sales manager Babar Feroz told Dawn on Saturday that the company was trying to resist the price increase, but if the current price trend of edible oil in world markets continued for the next two to three weeks, then the company would have no choice but to raise prices.

He said the increase in soyabean oil prices due to bad crop prospects had actually caused the price hike in palm oil prices as both main raw materials of producing ghee and cooking oil complimented each other.

Pakistan imported soyabean oil worth $19 million (35,152 tons) in January 2004 as compared to 8,600 tons ($4.3 million) in December 2003, and 8,150 tons ($4.2 million) in January 2003. In July-January 2003-04, soyabean oil imports stood at 72,055 tons ($39 million) as compared to 23,075 tons ($11 million) in the corresponding period of 2002-03.

Mr Feroz said prices of loose ghee and cooking oil being sold from 16 kg tins rose by Rs3-4 per kg in the last two week.

Around 90 per cent of the ghee and cooking oil market is dominated by regional, mushroom growth and bulk packers as compared to 10 per cent market share being enjoyed by packers in premium segment.