The progressive Flour Millers Group has strong reservation on current wheat supply to flour mills from open market.
Since the wheat crop is being harvested and the procurement drive of both the Food Department and the flour millers is about to begin.
The Punjab Food department procurement drive seems to be starting with panicking the market, the district administration is catching any truck on the road carrying wheat, in order to help Punjab food department achieve its procurement target.
This administrative action will ultimately kick up the price of the grain before its peak harvesting period, said Muhammad Khaleeque and Majid Abdullah here Saturday.
The flour millers on the other hand are not getting enough wheat due to this administrative hick ups and the price of the grain is already showing a higher trend instead of a lower trend, due to the abundant availability in this harvest window. The wheat permits are still not being issued to the flour mills, to meet their daily wheat grinding requirements, they observed. Apart from achieving the procurement targets, the department should realize that the stocking by the genuine Flour millers will ultimately help the department in the later months. Hoarding of wheat by the Non flour millers should be discouraged. Secondly strict monitoring is need of the hour at inter provincial borders, specially through motorways. Inter district ban will accelerate the wheat prices unnecessarily, they said. Progressive flour millers group stresses the need of the issuance of Wheat movement permits to the flour mills at the earliest. The declared stock build up by the flour mills will be beneficial for the lean period, as imports are next to impossible this year, due to very uncertain circumstances internationally, they concluded.
