Wheat smuggling pushes flour prices to record high in Punjab

LAHORE (Web Desk) – Flour price in the Punjab capital went up by Rs5 per kilogramme to Rs140 as smuggling of wheat and subsidised flour bags to other provinces surged.

The smuggling has deepened the flour crisis in Punjab, driving prices to the record level in the open market. Sources said the subsidised flour bags were being smuggling to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtuknkwa at whooping price of Rs2,400 per bag.

In Lahore, the prices of 10-kg and 20-kg flour bags have surged to Rs1,400 and Rs2,800, respectively, while the price of Chakki flour has surged to Rs140 per kilograme.

Meanwhile, the local administration in Jhang foiled an attempt to smuggle flour bags from a local flour mill on Wednesday, seizing 992 bags of 20kg each from a vehicle.

In reaction the flour millers have announced strike for unlimited period of time, saying the mills will not supply wheat and flour.