HYDERABAD: The price of flour has surged sharply across Sindh over the past two weeks rising by more than Rs20 per kilogramme (kg). In Hyderabad, flour is being sold at the wholesale rate of Rs100 per kg and Rs4,000 per 40kg bag, while retail prices have reached Rs105 per kg and Rs4,200 per maund.
The Pakistan Flour Mills Association’s Hyderabad representative, Yasin Ahmed, told The News that even mill owners were shocked at the sudden escalation in the wheat price, with a 100kg bag soaring from Rs6,100 to Rs9,000 in the open market.
He attributed this to increased wheat consumption as poultry feed, due to a shortage of maize, and to the provincial government’s decision not to release its wheat stocks despite holding millions of tonnes.
According to him, hoarders had also fueled the price hike by stockpiling large quantities of wheat in rice mills, pulse mills and private warehouses, far beyond the usual capacity of flour mills.
The Anaj Mandi Hyderabad spokesperson, Muhammad Naeem Sheikh, explained that when the new wheat crop arrived in April 2025, open-market prices were Rs1,900 to Rs2,200 per maund — barely covering the production costs. This discouraged farmers, many of whom sold only part of their harvest while keeping stocks for seed.
He added that Punjab farmers were holding significant stocks, while wheat continued to be consumed throughout the year for poultry feed and food industries such as biscuit manufacturing and as such, with reduced supplies in Sindh, the price of wheat in Hyderabad had climbed to Rs9,000 per 100kg bag.
He alleged that certain business groups within the federal government were deliberately pushing the narrative of a wheat shortage to justify imports. He said that artificially inflated prices served two purposes — they motivated disheartened farmers to sow wheat again and allow authorities to release and sell their expensive stock at higher rates.
He warned that the imports would benefit only a select group of traders, and when the next local crop arrived, prices would inevitably fall, allowing the government to procure fresh wheat at its fixed support price.
Naemuddin Memon, a paddy trader from New Saeedabad in Matiari district, said that farmers suffered heavy losses last season when a 100kg bag fetched only Rs5,500 at most. Although disheartened, he said, growers would continue to prioritise wheat cultivation.
He criticised the Sindh government for setting a procurement price of Rs4,000 per maund but failing to purchase from farmers, leaving the market vulnerable to hoarding and speculation. Sindh Abadgar Board President Mahmood Nawaz Shah noted that the crisis was inevitable once the government reduced its control over wheat procurement and storage. Middlemen purchased wheat cheaply from farmers at Rs2,000 to Rs2,200 per maund in 2023, reaping huge profits in 2024 when production fell and prices spiked.
He stated that Punjab, which produced about 75 per cent of the country’s wheat, recorded lower cultivation and yields this year, further squeezing the supply. Shah warned that the combined impact of low production and speculative hoarding meant that Pakistan would not have enough wheat to meet its 2025 consumption needs, even with current stocks.
He likened the situation to the sugar crisis, when rumours of shortages drove prices from Rs140 to Rs180 per kg despite adequate stocks. He accused both the federal and Sindh governments of enabling profiteering by middlemen instead of supporting farmers directly, forcing both growers and consumers to bear the burden of inflated prices.
Meanwhile, Sindh officials confirmed that around 1.3 million tonnes of wheat remained in the provincial reserves. They stated that the government did not intervene in the market pricing but would release its stocks when necessary.
They acknowledged that recent floods and the influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Punjab had added pressure to demand but maintained that the overall stocks were stable and prices were expected to stabilise once the reserves were released. When approached for comment on the issue, Sindh Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Food Jabbar Khan did not provide any response or statement.
