KARACHI, Nov 1: Barring some vegetables, prices of almost all essential items notably flour varieties, pulses, ghee and cooking oil, rice, tetra milk, poultry products etc., went through the ceiling during the last month.

A market survey conducted by Dawn revealed that all the varieties of flour had witnessed sharp increase in their prices on November 1 when compared to the rates prevailed on October 1, 2007, while rice prices had remained under pressure during the period under review.

Sindh Zone of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) chairman Chaudhry Ansar Jawed said there was no justification of increasing the mill flour (atta) rate at retail level as it had been unchanged after Ramazan at mill level. He said some vested interests were trying to again create flour crisis by increasing the rate.

However, he said that wheat rate had surged to Rs1,570 per 100 kg bag from Rs1,525 four days back, despite this increase the rate of mill atta was static at Rs1,400 per 80 kg bag.

He said that there had been some decline in supply of wheat to the mills from the Sindh Food Department, which currently stands at 18,300 kgs per week as compared with 22,800 kgs during Ramazan, but it had no negative impact on the prices.

He said he did not find any genuine reasons for increasing the chakki atta rates though there were some problems like closure of many small chakkis during Ramazan but now they had started their operations.

Rice which is considered to be a cheap luxury for a common man is now fast becoming a rare commodity. Consumers are also complaining about the poor quality of the commodity despite paying very high prices.

Senior Vice Chairman Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) Malik Zulfiqar Ali said that the wholesale prices of Basmati 386, Irri 6 and Irri 9 had surged by Rs2 to Rs3 per kg while old super basmati price had also jumped by identical amount.

He said there had been high demand of Pakistani rice in the world markets because Indian rice had become costlier. He added that local exporters were getting huge orders from foreign buyers.

KWGA chairman Anis Majeed said that masur pulse become dearer owing to costly imports from Canada. The Canadian masur rate rose to $750 per ton as compared to $450 per ton last year. The local production of 20,000-25,000 tons of the pulse had already been sold out in the market.

He said dal mash local production stood at 18,000-20,000 tons which was insufficient to meet domestic requirements as a result costlier imports from Burma were arriving in to meet the consumption demand. Arhar pulse was also arriving from Burma at higher rates because high Indian demand had pushed up the its prices in Burma. The local crop will arrive in November, he added.

However, he said there was no justification in charging higher retail rates for gram pulse as its wholesale rates had been unchanged. He added the wholesale sugar price was Rs26.50 per kg but retailers were charging s 30 per kg without any reason.

In absence of any check on prices, tetra milk producers have been enjoying full liberty by frequently increasing prices. The city government had held a meeting with the tetra milk producers in March this year which later proved a routine exercise. However, the city government is yet to take any action against these producers.

With the change in weather, egg demand has gone up thus putting pressure on the supply side. Poultry bird prices have also jumped as marriage season is in full swing and suppliers have not been able to meet the demand.

Ghee and cooking prices had been under severe pressure at the domestic level owing to consistent rise in Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil rates. Branded ghee and cooking oil producers were now again flexing their muscles to jack up the rates in the next week. Retailers said that distributors of a leading ghee producer had already suspended the fresh supply to the market.

President Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market Haji Shahjehan said that with the increased arrivals from Sindh crop the onion prices came down to Rs18 per kg from Rs24 a month back. Onion prices had touched Rs28 per kg few days back due to expensive imports from Afghanistan and Iran.

He said that there would be ample onion stocks in the market from new Sindh crop by middle of the month. Some 100-150 trucks carrying Afghanistan onion were still arriving to meet the demand of NWFP and Punjab. “Wholesale prices have also fallen to Rs12-13 per kg as against Rs16-18 per kg few days back,” he added. He said export of onion to Colombo and Malaysia had also started.

Tomato prices had also stabilised at Rs25 per kg at wholesale. As a result, its price at retail was tagged at Rs30 per kg. Ahead of Eidul Fitr tomato was sold at Rs80-100 per kg. He said Indian tomato prices had dropped to Rs500-600 per 18-20 kg wooden peti as compared with Rs1,200 few days back.