KARACHI, Feb 11: More than 14 million consumers in the city will continue to remain hostage to the unscrupulous wheat traders, millers and corrupt officials of the Sindh Food department, and will be forced to pay higher prices for flour and bread well beyond April this year.
Market analysts expect a little relief after April, when harvest of the fresh wheat crop picks up and there will be a steady and sustained supply in the market that may bring down the prices.
Wheat crisis somewhat aggravated on Tuesday when Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association threatened to suspend grinding in the next 48 hours. They were demanding wheat at concessional price from government stocks to about 22 flour mills in the city, which were accused of trading this wheat in the market.
On Wednesday, a delegation of the millers met Sindh Agriculture and Food Minister Arif Jatoi and withdrew the ultimatum after getting an assurance that all mills would be given wheat from government stocks.
This withdrawal of ultimatum might have helped ease the tense situation in the city, but it is neither expected to bring any distinct change in flour prices nor to improve the wheat supply in the market. Market analysts predict that wheat shortages and higher flour prices will persist at least beyond April when supply improves.
Wheat harvest in lower Sindh districts begins in early March, but these are not wheat-growing areas and the quantity harvested there is too small, which is mostly passed on to Punjab.
Wheat harvest will pick up in Sanghar in early April, which will lead to a substantial improvement in supply. Since market price of wheat now ranges between Rs1,175 to Rs1,225 for a 100-kg bag, powerful commodity brokers in rural Sindh are all set to persuade small farmers to sell them wheat at Rs900-950 for 100-kg.
These brokers, who have tremendous political, economic and social clout in rural areas, in the event of a bumper crop, manage to procure wheat at much less than the official price.
Wheat watchers expect a good crop this spring, mainly because of the timely winter rains this season. "We hope to get 2.3 million tons this year," a confident Arif Jatoi told Dawn on Wednesday.
Mr Jatoi when asked to explain the present wheat shortages and price escalation of flour, said: "There is an all-round price increase of flour." For almost last three months, just before Ramazan, consumers have been facing wheat shortages and rise in flour prices, thanks to a nexus of unscrupulous wheat brokers, traders, millers and corrupt government functionaries.
It all began from the first week of August, 2003, when the Sindh government had auctioned off 69,000 tons of wheat from the government stocks at a throw-away price of Rs6,370 a ton to a trader from Ghotki.
Later in October, November and December, the flour mills were given generous wheat allocations at concessional price, which was stocked. The millers and traders released this wheat in limited quantities to maintain high prices.
"We are keeping about 20 flour mills in Karachi under strict watch," Mr Jatoi said. He said that he agreed to release concessional price wheat to these mills after getting an assurance that flour would be supplied in the market at reasonable rates.
Malik Naeem, a leader of the millers, alleged that these mills had deposited Rs300 million advance payment and had obtained 'challans' for getting wheat from the government stock, but for last one-and-a-half months the government was not providing wheat to these mills.