KARACHI, Sept 10: After the 100 kg wheat bag touched the record price of Rs1,450 on Monday from Rs1,360 two days earlier and increase in price of 80 kg bag of atta no.2.5 to Rs1,300 from Rs1,260, flour mills in Karachi have decided to suspend buying of wheat from the open market.

The 100 kg wheat bag prices had rebound last week to Rs1,360 from Rs 1,330 despite release of wheat stocks by the Sindh Food Department. The prices had declined in anticipation of higher wheat stocks by the government. However, the situation has now changed.

Amidst the spiralling trend in wheat prices for the last two months the consumers are not likely to get any relief in Ramazan although the flour mills and the city government had been engaged in negotiations for fixing a reasonable price of atta for the month.

It is feared that the consumers will have to pay higher prices during the holy month as wheat and atta prices continue to rise. Even before the advent of Ramazan consumers are paying Rs2 per kg more to buy various varieties of wheat flour. Atta no.2.5, atta fine mill and atta chakki, which were available at Rs15, Rs16 and Rs17 per kg on July 1, are now priced at Rs17, Rs18 and Rs19 per kg, respectively. The 10 kg fine atta bag now sells at Rs185-190 as compared to Rs160 on July 1.

An office bearer of Karachi Retail Grocers Group (KRGG) said that many retailers had already started charging Rs20 for Chakki atta from Monday. However, prices of atta no.2.5 and atta fine mill will increase by Re one per kg in a day or two if increase in wholesale atta prices persists, he added.

Chairman Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), Sindh Zone, Ansar Jawed said some 70 to 80 mills in Karachi will not buy wheat from the open market till Wednesday due to rising prices.

The association will hold a press conference on Wednesday to suggest some strategy to the government as to how to control soaring wheat prices before Ramazan keeping in view available wheat stocks.

He termed the supply of wheat by the Food department as inadequate, which was only 30 per cent of the mills’ requirement, while mills had been buying 70 per cent of the commodity from the open market. The official rate of wheat is Rs1,215 per 100 kg bag.

The flour mills in entire Sindh are getting 106,000 tons wheat per month as against the requirement of 300,000 tons. Mills in Karachi are getting 46,000 tons per month as against demand of 160,000 tons. He blamed the traders and players in the open market for pushing up the wheat rates.

However, he said that the Food department was insisting on the flour mills to lift both new crop with some substandard quality lying at the godowns but the mills refused to lift the poor quality wheat.

Consumers are experiencing frequent increase in atta prices despite a bumper wheat crop of 23.5 million tons as claimed by the government followed by a ban on export of wheat and flour varieties.

Market people said that the government was busy in grappling with political situation in the country and was ignoring other issues like rising prices of essential items before the holy month.