Tag: Flour mills

  • Flour mills across Pakistan to strike over withholding tax

    Flour mills across Pakistan to strike over withholding tax

    Flour mills in different cities have stopped grinding wheat and supplying flour across the country today, leading to fears of a shortage.

    1500 mill owners have gone on strike along with flour dealers, the Flour Mills Association has said.

    Chairman Flour Mills Association Asim Raza said, “We will not collect withholding tax. The price of a bag of flour will rise by Rs 200 after imposing withholding tax.”

    Today, 73 flour mills in Gujranwala district are completely closed, and more than 60 flour mills in Multan are also shut down. Meanwhile, all 100 flour mills are closed in the four districts of the division.

    A spokesperson of the Flour Mills Association stated that after the closure of flour mills in Faisalabad, the supply of 200,000 bags of flour per day has stopped. In contrast, all ten flour mills in Kamalia city and four in Khushab district are closed.

    A strike is also taking place in Peshawar on the appeal of the Flour Mills Association, while in Quetta, a strike is being carried out on the call of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association.

    Chairman Flour Mills Association (South Zone) Aamir Abdullah told Geo News that flour mills in Sindh have also stopped the supply of flour. “Tax collection is the job of FBR; we should not be made tax agents. Until our demands are approved, the supply of wheat products will remain closed.”

    A few days ago, flour mill owners announced a strike while holding a press conference and said that they had tried to negotiate. They stressed that they have conveyed demands to the government that tax collection is not their job.

  • Punjab food department ceases wheat quota subsidy 

    Punjab food department ceases wheat quota subsidy 

    The Punjab Food Department has decided to discontinue a substantial subsidy programme linked to the allocation of government wheat quotas. 

    Officials responsible for this matter have informed the media that the government has set the price of wheat at Rs3,900 per maund, with the distribution of wheat from the government quota to flour mills commencing on October 15th.  

    Within the framework of the government quota, wheat will be made available to 1,000 operational flour mills at a rate of Rs4,450 per maund.  

    In the wake of the issuance of government wheat quotas, a 20-kilogramme bag of flour will be retailed at Rs2,600, while in the open market, the same 20-kilogramme bag of flour is currently selling for Rs2,750.  

    These officials have also disclosed that the Punjab Food Department currently maintains a wheat stockpile of over 40 lakh tonnes.  

    Read more: IMF urges Pakistan to increase taxation on the rich and ‘protect the poor’ 

    In June, the Punjab Food Department had temporarily halted the allocation of wheat quotas to flour mills, opting instead to conduct wheat auctions in accordance with the regulations set forth by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).  

    As reported by ARY News, the Punjab Food Secretary mentioned that mill owners are eligible to participate in these auctions.  

    Furthermore, the provincial government is contemplating the provision of direct subsidies on flour, with these measures aimed at curbing any irregularities associated with the allocation of wheat quotas. 

  • Wheat prices soar in Lahore, hitting Rs5,100 per 40kg bag

    Wheat prices soar in Lahore, hitting Rs5,100 per 40kg bag

    In Lahore, the price of a 40kg bag of wheat has surged to Rs5,100, which is significantly higher than the government’s fixed rate of Rs3,900. The leader of the flour mills association has stated that the government’s rate is not being implemented in the market.

    As a result of the increase in wheat prices, the price of a 20kg bag of flour has risen to Rs2,750, as opposed to the government’s fixed rate of Rs2,316.

    The flour millers have explained that they are unable to sell the wheat at lower rates after procuring it at an exorbitant price from the open market.

    Last month, officials from the Punjab Food Department foiled an attempt to smuggle wheat and flour to Afghanistan. More than 70 containers loaded with wheat and flour were being smuggled to Afghanistan from Rawalpindi Motorway.

    During the inspection, district food authority officials seized 46 containers loaded with wheat and 16 containers of flour. The wheat and flour were being transported from Punjab to Afghanistan, despite a ban on wheat transportation from the province. The containers were sealed and 16 people were booked in connection with the incident.

  • Flour prices hit record high in Punjab due to inter-provincial smuggling

    Flour prices hit record high in Punjab due to inter-provincial smuggling

    Owing to increased smuggling of wheat and subsidised flour bags to other provinces, the price of flour in the Punjabi capital increased by Rs5 per kilogramme to Rs140. 

    Smuggling has exacerbated Punjab’s flour problem, increasing open-market prices to an all-time high. According to sources, the subsidised flour bags were being smuggled into Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkwa at a cost of Rs2,400 each bag.

    Prices for 10-kg and 20-kg flour sacks in Lahore have risen to Rs1,400 and Rs2,800, respectively, while Chakki flour has risen to Rs140 per kilogramme, according to Dunya News.

    Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the local administration in Jhang stopped an attempt to smuggle flour bags from a local flour factory, seizing nearly 1,000 20 kg bags from a truck.

    According to wheat dealers, the open market price of wheat has risen to Rs4,700 per 40 kg. Furthermore, the rate for a commercial unit of power from 6 pm to 10 pm has risen to a staggering Rs70 to Rs80, severely hurting the economics of grain trading.

    Lahore Atta Chakki Owners Association has requested the government to immediately prohibit the inter-provincial movement of wheat and its products in order to halt the ongoing rise in wheat prices.