KARACHI, May 21: The Sindh government has urged the federal government to impose a temporary ban on export of wheat to help it achieve its procurement target by June 15 and keep flour prices under control.
This was stated by adviser to the Chief Minister on Agriculture Mir Murtaza Khan Jatoi during a meeting of the agriculture department held here on Monday.
Pointing out that exporters had started large-scale purchases, thereby pushing the price of the new crop up to Rs1,155 and Rs1,175 per 100 kg.
He said that at present the department had a stock of 40,000 tons of wheat from the last crop while this year’s requirement was 750,000 tons.
Director of Food, Sindh, Ahsan Ali Mangi informed the meeting that around 557,000 tons of wheat had been procured by May 16 this year as against 688,000 tons procured during the same period last year.
He said that owing to the export, the pace of procurement had come down and the daily procurement had been hardly of hardly 2,000 tons.
Meanwhile, leaders of the milling industry have warned of a serious flour crisis in Karachi and other parts of the country if the government does not immediately stop the export of wheat.
“Prices of a 100 kilogram bag has increased by Rs80 to Rs100 in the open market, forcing closure of 30 flour mills in the city, Unsar Javed, chairman of the Sindh circle of Pakistan Flour Mills Association, said at a press conference here on Monday.
“We have not yet increased the price of flour in line with rise in wheat prices,” he said, adding that prices would be increased after June 1, if the government does not stop the export immediately. He said that instead of the grain, the government should allow export of only value-added products, like flour and maida.
“There are rumours in Karachi market that wheat prices will shoot up to Rs1,300 for a 100 kilogram bag,” he said, warning that flour prices would also go up quite high. The crisis might be more severe than what was seen in the spring of 1997, he said, recalling that it was for the first time in the country’s history that food marches and food riots were seen in big cities.
Located more than 100 miles away from wheat-growing areas, godowns in Karachi were now virtually empty, he said, adding that the shortage of flour could assume alarming proportions if the government failed to take prompt remedial action. Besides, there is a worldwide shortage of wheat and any problem in domestic supplies will have disastrous consequences.
Mr Javed accused traders of hoarding wheat on the pretext of export. Besides, he said, the export would not help the grower who would get from the government a procurement price of Rs425 per 40 kilogram.
Mr Javed advised the government to build up strategic reserves of wheat “at least 50 per cent more than at present” before allowing export. He said that the price of rice was also going up and, therefore, it was necessary to build up adequate wheat reserves.
He accused traders of having misused the wheat export facility last year when they bought wheat from government stocks at Rs1,126 per 100 kilogram and sold it back in the market at Rs1,175. Now they were again buying wheat from the open market for hoarding.
Officials of the Sindh Food Department also complained on Monday of problems being faced with official wheat procurement programme. “In Larkana, the price of wheat is Rs100 more than the official price, said an official, adding that the procurement target of 0.7 million tons might be difficult to meet. By last Saturday, the Sindh government had procured 560,000 tons.
The provincial government is reported to have communicated its disapproval of the centre’s policy of allowing wheat export before having raised the targeted five million tons reserve.
Meanwhile, the Wheat Association of Pakistan issued a press release on Monday to support the government’s policy of allowing 1.3 million tons of wheat export through private sector. Wheat export, the association’s senior vice-president Abdul Karim said in a signed statement, would “assist farmers and help alleviate poverty”.
He accused what he called vested interests of raising a hue and cry about price rise which, he claimed, was due to ‘increase in transportation costs” and hoarding and strikes. He urged the government to ensure a smooth flow of wheat for export.
