KARACHI, Oct 1: As Ramazan only 15 days away, prices of some of the commodities have started climbing up. Against the rise in price of gram pulse, arhar, sugar, red chillies, tomatoes , poultry live bird and its meat, some decline in prices was seen in masur, onion, potatoes and egg in the last one month.
Out of 32 kitchen items, price of seven items rose as against the fall in four items in the last one month. Gram pulse became costlier by Rs2 to Rs32 from Rs 30 per kg despite the fact the markets had enough stocks from the local crop.
The increase in its price is natural because its demand usually goes up in the holy month. However, retailers and wholesalers are not ready to reveal the actual reason of increase. The commodity is also being hoarded to make windfalls in Ramazan.
There is a disparity in the wholesale price of gram pulse. A wholesaler quoted the price of gram pulse at Rs24 per kg, while a retailer said that it was available at Rs28 per kg at wholesale stage.
Arhar price also went up to Rs36 from Rs34 per kg irrespective of the fact that it is not a hot commodity as far as demand pattern with reference to Ramazan is concerned. Its wholesale price is tagged at Rs34 per kg.
Sugar price went up by Re1 per kg to Rs22 from Rs21 on account of rising demand in Shab-e-Barat that was celebrated on Thursday. Its price is likely to stabilize in coming weeks as the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) intends to offload 50,000 tons sugar in the market from the stocks of 470,000 tons in a bid to normalize prices ahead of Ramazan.
Red chillies (whole dundicut) price surged to Rs70 per kg from Rs60 per kg as retailers claim that crop had damaged due to rains in the producing areas. Tomatoes became dearer by Rs15 to Rs35 per kg from Rs20 per kg. Its price currently ranged in Subzi Mandi bewteen Rs15-20 per kg.
Price of poultry live bird depicted an increase of Rs6 to Rs60 from Rs54 per kg, thus also causing price hike in its meat to Rs96 from Rs90 per kg last month. Egg price however, showed a decline of Rs3 to Rs31 from Rs34 per dozen.
Onion price also fell to Rs14 from Rs15 per kg owing to increased supplies from Sindh's new crop while supply from Balochistan crop is also arriving. Balochistan crop will come to an end in this month. Good quality onion is selling at Rs10-11 per kg, while average quality price ranges between Rs8-9 per kg at the wholesale level.
The price of average quality potato also dropped to Rs12 from Rs13 per kg. Two varieties are currently available in the wholesale market. Punjab's cold storage variety is selling between Rs8-10 per kg while it is priced at Rs12-14 per kg at retail level.
Potato arriving from Quetta's new crop is priced at Rs15-16 per kg at wholesale level while it is selling at Rs20-25 per kg at retail level. Haji Shahjehan said that only tomato prices may remain under pressure in Ramazan, otherwise there will hardly be any problem of shortage or price hike of any greens in the holy month.
He said all types of green chillies are currently priced at Rs10-25 per kg in the wholesale markets due to good crop. He did not agree with the government's decision of binding the vegetables and fruits retailers and wholesalers for selling the commodities at a control or fixed rate.
He said market forces be given free hand as these are perishable items and the rate usually fluctuates on the demand and supply situation. The government usually pressurise the wholesalers and retailers to sell the commodity at cheaper rates without checking the supply situation.
He said perishable items cannot be piled up in godowns as compared to other essential items. He claimed that there is no control on price on perishable items all over the world and the prices are determined on the demand and supply situation.
Adviser to Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association (KWGA), Anis Majeed said that supply situation of pulses have so far been satisfactory. He said that rates of rice are well under control while fixation of rates for flour is a difficult task for the city government as well as for wholesalers.
Meetings between the city government officials and retailers, wholesalers, importers and producers have started and prices are likely to be finalized a few days ahead of the holy month.
Price control committees are being formed to monitor the situation while federal and provincial ministers are likely to visit the bazaars to check the situation.