THE wholesale commodity market lacked normal trading interest last week as prices of main essential items were traded around their previous levels. The arrivals from upcountry markets, notably wheat and some pulses, including gram whole were fairly steady and did not allow major changes in their prevailing price structure, dealers said.
Wheat should have fallen from the current high levels on reports of a bumper crop but as mill-demand remained active prices did not look back amid slight-fall in mid-week trading, they said.
The tripartite procurement operations - by the government, mills and private sector - remained active. The buyers kept purchasing directly from the growers and the middlemen.
On export front, physical shipment of rice against the forward deals with foreign buyers - notably from Iran, Africa and Gulf - were steadily being made. A rice loader remained busy loading the commodity from the ship which was to load 20,500 tons each week, indicating an effort to meet the deadlines, market sources said.
All deals under which shipments were being made were confined to old crop, while the new crop from Sindh markets was expected to arrive during the next couple of weeks, they said.
Owing to sufficient water supply, including the rains, condition of the new crop was fairly encouraging and a total production was expected to be more than five million tons. After previous week’s modest decline, sugar stayed firm around previous level as arrivals from the mills were “regularized”.
Situation on other counters was stable as most maintained their previous points under the lead of pulses, rice and others amid slow trading. Unlike the previous week, activity was a bit slow owing to a comfortable ready position - thanks to steady arrivals from the upcountry market and a considerable fall in demand.
But most essential items were traded around previous week’s levels barring wheat which came in for stray selling by local stockists followed by the reports of steady new crop arrivals from Sindh.
It suffered a modest decline of Rs10 to 15 per bag as local dealers held on to their unsold position. Mill-demand was relatively slow as leading among them were still in the process of direct buying from the interior.
Some brokers said that the commodity had declined by Rs20 per maund as some growers were out to sell the surplus stocks to private parties rather than to official channels because of payment and weight problems.
Other essential items, including pulses and rice were traded around previous rates as supplies matched the ready demand and there were no reports of hoarding back of stocks by the commercial traders, they said.
Steady arrivals of imported pulses did not allow any changes in masoor, moong, gram and gram dal while larger shipment of rice kept prices firm amid reports of falling ready stocks.
Sugar remained firm around the previous levels as millers held the price line after releasing the stock, giving an alternate to consumers to go either for local or imported stuff at the same price.
Official production figures released by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association put the total at around three million tons out of which 1.7 million tons were left unsold. The crop was short of a million ton as compared to the previous year’s total.
Some cereals, notably bajra and industrial raw materials including guar came in for renewed support amid reports of slow arrivals from the upcountry market and rose by Rs25 to 75, while maize, jowar, barley were traded at previous levels.
Oilseed sector showed mixed trend, although much of the activity was confined to the rapeseed sector where Dadu type showed a sharp increase of Rs50 on short supply, while Nawabshah variety fell by Rs10. Til and castor-seed were held unchanged amid slow trading.
Oilcakes ruled unchanged for rapeseed while cottonseed fell by Rs5 followed by reports of weak oil market.—M.A.
THE wholesale commodity market lacked normal trading interest last week as prices of main essential items were traded around their previous levels. The arrivals from upcountry markets, notably wheat and some pulses, including gram whole were fairly steady and did not allow major changes in their prevailing price structure, dealers said.
