KARACHI, Dec 31: Consumers experienced a fluctuating trend in prices of essential items during December, in which prices of onion, tomato, garlic, gram pulse, moong, Kabuli channa and sugar increased against fall in prices of masur, vegetable ghee (loose), potato, poultry bird and eggs.

Onion price rose to Rs10 from Rs8 per kg, while tomato prices shot up to Rs20 from Rs8 per kg. Garlic prices increased to Rs72 from Rs50 per kg.

Vegetable dealer at Subzi Mandi, Haji Shahjehan said on Saturday that the onion price at wholesale ranges between Rs6-6.50 per kg. The Sindh crop is in full swing but it is up to the retailers to decide the prices as per area requirement. There is no increase at the wholesale level, he added.

In tomato, growers suffered huge losses as they had to sell the commodity at throw-away prices. Many growers had destroyed their standing crop due to huge losses while crop in some areas was destroyed owing to extreme winter season. In Subzi Mandi, it is selling at Rs10-12 per kg, he said adding tomato is also being supplied to Punjab from Sindh.

Garlic prices had risen because of costlier imports from China and India. The Indian high quality ginger is selling at Rs80 per kg at wholesale, while Chinese ginger is being sold at Rs30-50 per kg, Shahjehan said.

He said that the bumper tomato crop in Punjab had kept the rates normal and the commodity is available at Rs7-8 per kg at wholesale stage. Ginger is arriving from China and Singapore whose rates are being quoted at Rs80 and Rs45 per kg at wholesale.

In pulses, costlier imports from various countries had pushed up the rates of moong.

Sugar prices had surged to Rs30-31 per kg from Rs27 on December 1, despite frequent imports and ample stocks.

Poultry prices had fallen due to frequent supplies from the poultry farms.