LAHORE, June 22: Flour millers on Wednesday demanded a formal end to official wheat procurement in order to “relax the wheat market and bring the rates down”. Haji Bashir of the PFMA says with the food department still procuring wheat, traders avoid risking the movement of the staple commodity on their own. This has driven the price up a few notches.

The fiscal cost of the department’s taking wheat away was at least Rs30 per 40kg, said the PFMA man and added: “Wheat in the open market is being sold at Rs430 to Rs440 per 40kg. The department procures wheat and pays only Rs400 per 40kg, at a straight loss of Rs30 to Rs40 per 40kg. No trader is ready to risk such an adventure and foot the cost. The practice has suppressed the trade and pushed prices up. With the department opting out of the business, wheat trade would become freer and relax pressure on prices,” he maintained.

Food secretary Ahsan Raja says that, practically speaking, the procurement drive is almost over. The daily arrival of wheat has dropped from 80,000 tons a day down to 700/800 tons. There is a notional date of June 30, which the department is keeping. Formally winding up the campaign is a time-taking process, he said.

The provincial food director said that the option was discussed at the department level and its pros and cons considered, but a formal decision on the fate of the wheat procurement drive had not been taken so far. He agreed to the point that the meagre quantity arriving at department stocks would be of no use; arrival has dipped down to mere 700 tons a day. At this rate, even a 20-day purchase would not be sufficient for one day of departmental releases which hovers between 15,000 to 18,000 tons a day.