Wheat and flour prices surge in Lahore and Karachi amid supply shortages

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that wheat in Punjab now costs Rs5,200 per 40kg, a Rs400 jump over four days. In Karachi, millers lifted flour rates by about Rs14 per kg, pointing to thinner grain availability and slow handover of state-held wheat to mills. In Lahore, an 80kg bag of fine flour climbed Rs1,000 to Rs12,500, and a 15kg wheat flour bag rose Rs300 to Rs2,300.

Karachi millers now charge Rs155 for No. 2.5 flour, Rs167 for maida and Rs170 for fine flour per kg, while retail rates reach Rs180, Rs200 and Rs210. Branded 5kg packs of fine flour have moved from Rs950 to between Rs1,000 and Rs1,010. The increase follows a Rs3 per kg cut announced in late September that retailers had not passed on, and some shopkeepers accuse millers of halting supplies for several days before the latest rise.

Punjab millers say government wheat quotas at subsidised rates have been held up for more than two weeks, leaving their advance payments locked while they buy grain in the open market. The provincial government has also asked mills to release up to 20% extra flour bags at subsidised prices, a step industry representatives say adds strain. The next domestic harvest from Sindh and Punjab is due between March and May.