KARACHI: Millers have cut prices for various flour varieties by Rs3 per kg. They did not link the reduction to any pre-market effect ahead of the arrival of 750,000 tonnes of imported wheat.

After the cut, millers issued new rates a day back for flour No 2.5, maida and fine flour of Rs141, Rs149 and Rs152 per kg, respectively.

A miller said that the flour rates have been slashed due to the arrival of cheap rice-mixed flour from interior Sindh in Karachi. Feed mill quality rice is being mixed in wheat.

However, the wheat rate in the open market has remained almost unchanged at Rs125-130 per kg, despite the government’s plan to import 750,000 tonnes of grain in the coming months to avert any wheat and flour crises.

Millers slash Rs3 per kg, but retail and roti rates unchanged

He said the price cut has nothing to do with any market impact related to expected arrivals of impo­rted grain in November.

A paltry drop of Rs3 is unlikely to bring any relief to roti and bread varieties, whose prices have already risen due to higher wheat prices in the open market in previous months.

Roti makers have raised the price of naan by Rs5 to Rs30-35 per piece, followed by Rs10 for sheermal, taftaan and qulcha, while branded bread makers had raised the prices of bread and bakery items by 8pc earlier this month. Good-quality chapati is now priced at Rs20 per piece.

A tandoor operator termed the Rs3 drop a peanut, given the substantial price hike by flour millers since the new crop hit the markets in March to May.

“I do not know why the millers have reduced the rate despite rising transportation costs on account of a hike in diesel and LPG rates and an unchanged wheat rate in the open market,” he said.

Flour prices have been dropped by the millers, but an increase in the price of LPG by Rs30-40 to Rs400-420 per kg in the last few days will nullify the impact, he said.

In the retail markets, the price of flour No 2.5, maida and fine flour is Rs160, Rs170 and Rs180 per kg, showing no drop in prices.

Branded five-kg fine flour bags are available at Rs950-1,000, as the city government appears reluctant to check and fix the prices of branded flour bags.

As per data from the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) for the week ending Sept 24, the national average price of a 20kg flour bag, a 10kg wheat bag and one-kg of fine flour is Rs2,200-3,200, Rs1,269 and Rs155.84, respectively, compared to Rs1,810-2,740, Rs1,039 and Rs137 at the end of March.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026