Consumers see some relief in wheat, sugar prices

As the crackdown on sugar hoarders and speculators has started yielding some relief, the arrival of three ships loaded with imported wheat has also brought down prices of grain as well as flour varieties. A ship carrying 37,000 tonnes of Bulgarian wheat would start unloading the grain in a day or two while two more ships carrying 55,000 tonnes and 53,602 tonnes of Russian wheat have arrived at the outer anchorage of the port. Cereal Association of Pakistan Chairman Muzammil Chappal said the average price of these imported wheat comes to Rs101-102 per kg which would certainly provide a relief to the hard-pressed consumers. So far the private sector consortium has finalised a deal for the import of 700,000 tonnes of wheat and hopefully the stakeholders would further open letters of credit at a time when the dollar is losing its ground against the rupee making the landed cost of imported goods cheaper.