After having remained stable around the previous week’s levels, pulses also followed the lead of rice sector and spurted by Rs1, 200 to Rs2, 000 per bag under the lead of masoor and masoor dal followed by reports of short supply.
But prices flare-up both in rice and pulses appear to be speculative as buyers were not in an obliging mood and stayed away. Ready off-take was, therefore, modest.
The highest increase of Rs1, 800 to Rs2, 000 per 100 kg bag was noted in the prices of basmati rice, which had been stable around previous levels, they said.
Fine varieties of basmati also showed sympathetic increase of Rs1, 400 to Rs1, 700 per bag and were in short supply.
Among IRRI varieties, IRRI-9 followed the lead and was quoted higher by Rs1, 800 per bag, but dealers said there were not many buyers at the rising prices.
Never before in the history of commodity trading, prices of major essential items had shown similar price flare-up even amid reports of crop failures, they said.
Demands of the rice traders and general consumers to ban export of all varieties of rice with an immediate effect to stabilise local prices, failed to find echoes in the corridor of power. Instead a rice loader Athanasios G. Callitsis was toed to a berth on Karachi port to load 25,000 tons of the commodity, they said.
“After having harvested a bumper rice crop of over 5.5 million tonnes for the second consecutive year, the commodity has been much expensive for the local consumers”, they added.
In normal trading conditions, to ensure a fair price for local consumers, only surplus produce is exported to earn foreign exchange, but here exports are made at the cost of local end product users, some others said.
As a result, official sources failed to check sympathetic increase in prices of most items on other counters, which are also ruling around record higher levels.
Wheat prices, which were stable around previous level partly to steady new crop arrivals and partly to higher imports, however, showed sympathetic increase at the fag-end of the week and were quoted higher by Rs50 per bag.
Among pulses, major price flare-up was noted in masoor whole, masoor dal, urad and moong, while others were traded at previous levels.
Cereals also followed the lead of essential counter where pries of barley rose by Rs200 per bag to hit new high, while maize, jowar and bajra were firmly held at the previous levels.
With an exception of castor seed, which rose by Rs175 per 40 kg bag on reports of active export demand, til, cottonseed, rapeseed etc., were firmly held unchanged at the last levels.
Cotton on the other hand showed a modest rise of Rs25 per maund owing partly to an increase of Rs50 in cottonseed. But rapeseed cakes were held unchanged at previous levels.—M.A.