Flour mills in Sindh protest ban on movement of wheat

KARACHI: Flour mills in Sindh have warned that they will remain closed for three days to protest the restriction on inter-district movement of flour and wheat Aaj TV reported on Friday.

Earlier, the All Pakistan Flour Mills Association (APFMA) Sindh Chapter warned that they will go on strike for three days starting from Friday and that all flour mills of the province will remain shut for three days.

PFMA Chairman Asim Raza Ahmed, terming the ban unconstitutional,  threatened a country-wide strike if the provincial government did not withdraw its decision.

Talking to the media, APFMA Chairman said that the Sindh government is creating problems because the ban will cause shortage of flour in Karachi widening the gap between demand and supply.

Meanwhile, the APFMA has said that the Sindh government should allow import of wheat from Punjab.

Asim Raza Ahmed said that the inter-district ban in Sindh was unacceptable and added trade should be free in the entire country.

The APFMA chairman warned that only the growers and consumers in the province of Sindh will be hit by the ban.

The APFMA chairman stated that flour prices dropped to Rs1,425 from Rs1,650 per 50kg in one month due to better availability of wheat.

The prices dropped at least Rs3 per kg while they recovered following the ban, he said, and added the flour prices will go up with the ban on movement of wheat.

The provincial government banned the inter-district movement of wheat and flour in Sindh, particularly in adjacent districts of Karachi and districts on the Sindh-Punjab border.

The ban was imposed to achieve the target of wheat procurement set by the Sindh government.

It is reported that the ban was also placed to procure wheat at the right prices from all districts to give growers a fair return for their produce