KARACHI, April 7: Retailers have started charging Rs200-210 for 10-kg flour bag (No. 2.5) as compared to Rs180-190 last week. Two weeks ago it was priced at Rs150-160.

The rising price of atta No. 2.5 in the market is set to increase the rush of consumers at the utility stores as the flour price difference between the utility store and the retail market has crossed over Rs50 per 10-kg bag.

In absence of any check on prices, many retailers located inside the residential areas are seen charging Rs220 for 10 kg bag. The consumers, already hard pressed to manage their budget due to costly fresh milk and branded ghee and cooking oil, suffered another shock in shape of flour prices.

Retailers said that they were getting Ashrafi and other brands at Rs190 now as compared to Rs170 last week and they have the right to keep profit.

However, Karachi Retail Grocers Group general secretary Farid Qureshi said there was no shortage of atta and shops had enough quantity but the prices were definitely going up.

He said that it had been an annual ritual that prices came under pressure during April when the new Sindh crop hits the market followed by arrival of the Punjab crop.

The preparation cost at the mills now ranges between Rs18-18.50 per kg, which is then sold at higher rates in the markets. Flour millers are producing atta by mixing the government wheat with open market wheat, he said.

The price of 100-kg bag of wheat is Rs1,750 in the open market as compared to Rs1,700 last week, he claimed.

Buyers have started becoming panicky as they are procuring two to three bags despite their requirement of only one bag, he said.

The impact of increase in wheat support price by the government to Rs625 from Rs525 has not yet been felt on the price of fine atta and pure chakki atta, which are still tagged at Rs24 per kg. These varieties are already being sold at higher prices.

Many consumers have complained about the poor quality of atta (No.2.5) despite paying higher prices.

Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association Chairman Anis Majeed said that the 80-kg bag of atta (No.2.5) was now priced at Rs1,500 in the market as compared to Rs1,200 one and a half weeks back. The 100-kg wheat bag was then selling at Rs1,500-1,600.

He said the government had given benefit to the farmers by increasing the support price but it should also check the rising trend in atta price for the sake of urban consumers

A flour miller did not agree with the retailers. He said that wheat was actually sold at Rs1,710 per 100 kg on Monday as compared to Rs1,680 three days back and this was a routine increase.

When asked why their members were providing wheat bag at Rs190 to the wholesalers, he said that many mills had not increased the rate and were still charging Rs145 per 10 kg bag outside their mill.

However, he said that the 72 mills were getting 12,000 wheat bags of 100 kg per month as compared to 18,000-19,000 per month till the March end.

USC: Manager Sindh and Balochistan Utility Stores Corporation (USC), Masood Alam Niazi said that currently majority of the consumers were lining up to buy ghee and cooking oil, which are selling at over 50 per cent less than the market price of various brands.

In case of atta, he said, consumers were slowly turning up in larger numbers at the stores since its prices had come continuously under pressure for the last two weeks.

In case the current price of atta in the market stays at the current level or rises in future, consumers will throng the stores and huge queues will emerge again, he added.

“Currently, we have sufficient atta stocks but much will depend on the market rate of flour,” Masood said, adding that the USC gets 100,000 tons of wheat for countrywide supply of subsidised flour at the stores. The 10-kg atta bag is priced at Rs130.

He said that had been an increase in unruly scenes outside the stores, including clashes between the consumers and the USC officers over the short supply of ghee and cooking oil.

Many customers purchase three to four one kg pouch of ghee at a time above their requirement. Many are seen visiting the stores daily to buy the commodity and then sell the same to the retailers.