KARACHI, Nov 1: Except for wheat flour, potato and poultry items, prices of other consumer items remained unchanged in October because of sluggish demand in the market.
The tense situation after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States followed by the retaliatory bombing of Afghanistan are yet to cause any minor or major shakeup in the market.
“Our daily business has neither boosted nor tumbled in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the air raids on Afghanistan. Things are normal and there is no panic buying in the market,” traders said adding that the shrinking purchasing power was another factor inhibiting panic buying.
They said the current upward price surge in demand had no link with a panicky market situation, but it was linked with shortage and the interplay between the forces of demand and supply.
The price of atta No 2.5 increased to Rs11-12 a kg, depending on the area, from Rs10 a kg, but the price of fine atta remained unchanged at Rs12 a kg, a market survey covering a period from Oct 1 to Nov 1 reveals.
The price hike in potato to Rs14-17 a kg from Rs12 a kg in the past one month has been caused by a shortage of the commodity in the market due to end of crop season and slow arrivals from Punjab’s cold storages. Besides, some quantity has also been diverted to Peshawar and Afghanistan. Its wholesale price jumped up to Rs11-12 a kg from Rs10 a kg.
The President of the Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market at the Sabzimandi on Super Highway, Haji Shahjehan, said prices would stabilize in December. Now prices were likely to go up further.
Change of weather can be attributed to the hike in prices of poultry items. Egg prices surged up to Rs30 a dozen from Rs25 a dozen, and live bird prices increased to Rs48 a kg from Rs46 a kg. Similarly, the price of poultry meat is now quoted at Rs84 a kg from Rs81 a kg.
Prices of other items such as those of pulses and vegetables remained pegged to their previous levels due to sufficient supplies, frequent imports and less offtake by the consumers due to falling purchasing power.
Onion prices fell to Rs6-7 a kg from Rs8 a kg because of frequent supplies from the new Sindh crop. However, in some areas retailers continue to charge Rs8 a kg. In the wholesale market, it is tagged at Rs140-150 per 40 kg.
Tomato prices crashed to Rs14-15 a kg from last month’s Rs24 a kg because of improved arrivals from the Sindh crop. Its wholesale price is Rs6-10 a kg depending on quality.
Prices of fresh ginger (arriving from China and Indonesia) remained unchanged at Rs56 a kg. In Sabzimandi it is being sold at Rs35-40 a kg as compared to Rs45-50 a kg. The price of garlic (from the local crop of Bannu and China) showed no change, staying at the old rate of Rs48 a kg. In some areas it is being retailed at Rs50-52 a kg. It is available at Rs15-20 a kg in the wholesale market.
The demand for green chillies (small and big) will go up in Ramazan and dealers expect a price flare up due to the rising demand. They said the crop was good. Green chilli small from Malir is being sold at Rs28-32 a kg and is available at Rs25-26 a kg at the wholesale level. The price of green chilli big from the Sindh crop is tagged at Rs14-16 a kg and it is being sold at Rs10-12 a kg in the wholesale market.
In pulses, gram pulse (from Australia) prices maintained its old peak of Rs40 a kg. The market is now facing a shortage. It usually occurs when Ramazan is at hand.
Moong prices are pegged at the old rate of Rs30 a kg due to the arrival of the new crop of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. The price of arhar has also held unchanged at Rs32-33 a kg. Other varieties of pulses such as mash and masoor remained pinned to their old rates at Rs40-42 and Rs36 a kg, respectively.
In the past one month, sugar price declined to Rs22-23 a kg from Rs24 a kg because of easy availability in the market. Its prices actually declined to Rs21 a kg, but rising demand for Shab-i-Barat has caused a price surge to Rs22-23 a kg depending on area. Rice prices remain unchanged.
