KARACHI, Sept 1: The month of August ended with the consumers paying higher prices to buy onion, gram pulse, potato, garlic, egg, etc. They, however, paid same as before for some pulses, poultry bird and red chillies and got tomatoes at reduced rates.

Out of a total 32 items in the kitchen basket - five items posted an increase as against a price fall in seven items, while other items remained pegged to their previous levels.

With Ramazan starting from mid-October - prices of some vegetables have started showing an upward trend. Onion price shot up to Rs15 from Rs14 per kg due to an increase in its wholesale price. In some areas it was being retailed at Rs16 per kg.

The price of good quality onion surged to Rs12-13 from Rs11 per kg in the wholesale market. Currently, the consumers are consuming onion from the Balochistan crop, while the new Sindh crop will arrive in October/November.

Potato price increased to Rs13 from Rs12 per kg. In the wholesale market, it was being sold at Rs10 as compared to Rs9-9.50 per kg. The new crop of potato would start from November/December and currently the commodity was arriving from Punjab's cold storages and from Quetta on which the entire country is dependent.

Gram pulse price rose to Rs30 from Rs28 per kg despite good local crop and arrivals from Australia. The increase in retail prices seemed to be an artificial move of the retailers who knew that the demand for gram pulse would peak up ahead of Ramazan.

Garlic became costlier by Rs8 to Rs48 from Rs40 per kg. The increase in its price looked quite a surprise as garlic production in 2003-04 was estimated at 59,100 tons, up by 2.4 per cent from 2002-03's production of 57,700 tons.

Opening of schools from August 1 and a slight change in weather could be attributed to the price flare-up in eggs to Rs36 from Rs34 per dozen. Poultry bird prices dropped to Rs54 from Rs60 per kg while its meat prices caved in to Rs90 from Rs100 per kg owing to improved supplies from the farms.

A drop in wholesale price of tomato to Rs14-15 from Rs20 caused a decline at retail stage to Rs20 from Rs24 per kg owing to frequent supplies from Balochistan. The new Sindh crop would commence from October/November, which may result in price stabilization.

Despite a drop in the production of mash pulse to 24,600 tons in 2003-04 from 29,100 tons in 2002-03, its retail price depicted a decline as the deficit of demand was being met through imports from Burma and Thailand. Due to continuous imports, mash prices fell by Rs2 to Rs32 from Rs34 per kg.

Moong prices remained unchanged at Rs32 per kg due to a rise in production to 141,300 tons in 2003-04 from 138,400 tons in 2002-03. Masoor prices were unchanged at Rs42 per kg as production during 2003-04 was estimated at 29,500 tons, almost same the previous fiscal.

Frequent release of stocks by millers resulted in a slight fall of Re1 per kg in sugar to Rs21 from Rs22 per kg in the last one month. In tea, Unilever is still reluctant to pass on the benefit of an import duty cut to the consumers. Other packers like Tapal and Tetley had reduced the rates by Rs1-2 per pack.

Keeping in view earlier inflationary trend in the prices, market analysts assume that the prices of essential commodities will also go up by around nine to 10 per cent in August. But the prices of kitchen items had dropped by an average one per cent keeping in view 32 items in the basket.

The situation has changed mainly due to a major price decline of 40 per cent in red chillies (whole dundicut), 16 per cent in tomato and 10 per cent each in poultry bird and its meat.

Inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained high at 7.13 per cent in May, 8.45 per cent in June and 9.33 per cent in July. The manufacturers of 16 kg ghee tin raised the price by Rs100 per tin to Rs875 from Rs775 few days back. However, its impact will soon be witnessed on loose ghee.

Millac 2.5 kg pack also became costlier to Rs550 from Rs488. Prices of some spices also went up. The 32 items kitchen basket might have recorded an increase in its average price if these items were included in the list.