Consumers face uphill battle against skyrocketing food prices

• Further hike in flour prices feared due to short wheat supply to mills
• Milk being sold at Rs210 per litre
• Chicken boneless meat reaches Rs1,100-1,200 per kg
• Mutton, veal meat available at Rs1,700 and Rs850 a kilo, respectively

KARACHI: As the cost of living is rising sharply with each passing day, the life of the common man is fast becoming difficult and tough while the series of measures announced by authorities to control skyrocketing prices of essential food items are yet to produce results which could be deemed advantageous to consumers.

The provincial government on Friday launched a crackdown on profiteers and hoarders to control prices of essential commodities and arrested two alleged profiteers in Karachi and collected a total fine of Rs161,000 from different shopkeepers for violating official rates in the city, according to a statement issued here on Saturday.

Four shops were sealed during the raids carried out by district administrations while cases were registered against 21 shopkeepers.

The positive results of the exercise are yet to be seen by consumers. Flour mills while refusing to sell the commodity at the government-agreed ex-mill rate of Rs95 per kilo, increased the price of flour No.2.5 to Rs105 per kg only a few days ago.

The rates of fine and super fine flour have also been increased by Rs5 per kg to Rs125.

The millers had asked the Sindh food department to renegotiate the ex-mill price, but after getting no response, the millers jacked up the prices blaming ‘inadequate supply’ for the price hike.

The chairman of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), Sindh Zone, Chaudhry Aamir Abdullah said 92 mills in Karachi were getting inadequate wheat supply from the Sindh government. “Mills in Karachi have been allocated 92,000 tonnes of grain in February as against the agreed quota of 200,000 tonnes.”

The mills are producing flour from the Sindh government’s wheat, including imported wheat while a few mills are procuring grain from the open markets at Rs10,500 per 100kg bag.

The Sindh government’s wheat rate is Rs8,500 per 100kg bag which was Rs5,825 when a low-price flour bag of Rs650 per 10kg was launched in September 2022.

Wheat stocks in the open market are also getting shorter as a new wheat crop is expected to arrive by next month, he said, adding that mills were compelled to raise flour prices due to short wheat supply.

He said that PFMA had informed the commissioner of Karachi that raids by deputy commissioners at the mills were unjust and would not resolve the problem.

Mr Abdullah feared further price hikes in flour if the short wheat supply continued.

As per weekly data of the Sensitive Price Indicator ending February 16, 2023, the 20kg flour bag price was Rs2,200-2,500 as compared to Rs2,100-2,400 for the week ending February 9, 2023.

In the first week of this month, the 20kg bag was selling for between Rs2,040-2,200.

Branded five and 10-kg flour bags now cost Rs700 and Rs1,400 as compared to Rs600-620 and Rs1,300-1,320 a week back.

Chicken, red meat rates

In chicken, stakeholders have further pushed up the rate to Rs510-520 per kg in live birds from Rs480-500 per kg last week. Earlier this month it was selling at Rs390-440 per kg.

As a result, the rate of meat (with and without giblets) has been raised to Rs750-850 per kg from Rs700-780 per kg.

A dealer said the supply of birds from the farms had been cut due to the poultry feed crisis caused by soya bean meal shortage and huge price increases in poultry feed.

He said retailers had also reduced the inventory of birds for sale at shops by at least 40-50 per cent after buyers showed reluctance to purchase poultry due to price hikes.

It has also become tough for buyers to purchase boneless meat at Rs1,100-1,200 per kg which is far ahead with veal meat without bones of Rs900-920 per kg.

Meat traders have increased beef and mutton prices by Rs50-100 per kg to cash in on the demand boom after a whooping jump in poultry rates has shifted many consumers to beef.

Dealers attributed the price hike to rising wholesale rates. The price of good quality veal meat with bones has been increased to Rs850 per kg from Rs800 and without bones to Rs950-1,000 from Rs900-950 per kg. Mutton prices have been raised to Rs1,700 from Rs1,600 in many areas.

Milk prices

In milk, all retailers have started charging Rs210 per litre for loose milk as compared to Rs190.

Those selling yoghurt at Rs280-300 per kg are now demanding Rs300-320 per kg. The commissioner of Karachi and his team have so far not taken any serious actions against the dairy farmers, wholesalers and retailers.

Despite tall claims to arrest price hikes by the market forces, all efforts of the Sindh government and Karachi commissioner and his team, have so far proved to be eyewash for consumers who continue to pay high prices.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2023