Flour millers raise atta prices

With the increase in POL products' and wheat support prices , flour millers of Multan have increased the price of "atta"by Rs.50 per bag of 20 kgs as Flour Mills Association Punjab have announced an increase of Rs50 in ex-mill price of a 20kg flour bag to Rs625, citing high cost of wheat along with a rise in the cost of utilities.
They also signalled that flour price could cross Rs700 per bag if the wheat support price stood at Rs 1,050 per 40 kg.
Talking to the media, Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Punjab Chapter Chairman Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar said besides the increase in flour price, the millers were also planning to go on a three-day strike against hefty fuel price adjustment charges in electricity bills for August 2011."Mills have already sold flour for that period and they will now have to pay the fuel price adjustment charges from their own pockets," he said. According to him, around 10 percent of flour mills had already stopped production because of high operating cost and with this fuel price adjustment around 40 percent would be forced to close their units. "For a big flour mill, the fuel price adjustment charge will be around Rs10 million. How is it possible to operate mills with prolonged loadshedding and high cost of wheat and utilities," he asked. To decide on the strike, the central executive committee of the flour millers will meet on April 5.