July 03, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1428

KARACHI, July 2: While onion price hit a new peak of Rs20 per kg on Monday from Rs15 per kg, the wholesale price of atta surged to Rs1,150 per 80 kg from Rs1,130 due to increase in wheat price.

However, increase in wheat and atta (wholesale) rates have yet to make any impact at the retail stage as atta (2.5 No.) is selling at Rs15 per kg. But retailers said that in case wheat prices continue to show upward trend, consumers will feel the pinch of paying more for atta. Wheat prices started going up from the third week of June. It was selling at Rs1,180 per 100 kg bag prior to budget announcement of 2007-08. After the budget, it rose to Rs1,200-1,210.

On Monday, 100 kg wheat bag became costlier to Rs1,230-1,235 from Rs1,210. Retailers linked the recent surge in wheat prices to higher transportation cost being charged by the carriers after a heavy spell of rains all over the country.

However, Chairman Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA),Sindh circle, Ansar Jawed did not agree with the retailers’ stance, saying that the increase in wheat prices had nothing to do with transportation.

“Actually the government’s tall claims of 23.5 million tons of bumper wheat crop are now proving too ambitious, thus putting pressure on the wheat prices,” he said.

“The real size of the final wheat crop will be known in the next 15-20 days but it is unlikely to be a bumper production,” he added.

Ansar said that the flour millers of all the provinces will hold a meeting with Secretary Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) this week to discuss the wheat production and the related issues in details.

He said Sindh had so far procured 575,000 tons of wheat while Punjab had procured 2.6 million tons against the target of 2.7 million tons. Passco has so far procured 1.3 million tons.

In vegetables, onion supplies to the entire country now rely on Balochistan and NWFP crops. Since the last nine days, onion supplies from Balochistan had been very negligible, thus creating the gap between the demand and supply. Even supplies from the NWPF crop had been very thin. At the wholesale stage in Super Highway’s new Sabzi Mandi, onion prices had shot up to Rs16 per kg from Rs10-12 per kg on Saturday. It was selling between Rs9-10 per kg on Wednesday and Rs6-7 per kg before rains and storm.

A wholesaler in the mandi said that the supply of onion as well as of other greens had yet to improve, thus restricting the daily trading of vegetables between 20-30 per cent. Even city retailers are not turning up in larger numbers at the wholesale market.