The manufacturers of ghee/cooking oil have increased the prices of different brands of the commodity by Rs 180 to Rs 200 per 5 kg pack in last two months. A survey carried out by Business Recorder showed that the ghee makers are regularly increasing the prices step by step and are all set to fix it at Rs 200 per kg.
According to traders of different kitchen items at grain wholesale market Rawalpindi, the manufacturers of ghee/cooking oil, especially of Dalda, are increasing the commodity price every week for the last few months on the plea that international palm oil prices are increasing.
According to the survey, last week the ghee manufacturers increased the prices of ghee by Rs 10 per kg. A few weeks back, Dalda ghee/cooking oil was being sold at Rs 155 per kg, which is now being sold at Rs 190 per kg. Similarly, other ghee brands like Sufi, Habib, Tullo Sunflower cooking oil, Shan, Kashmir, Kisan, Mezan etc at the end of 2010 were available at Rs 150 per kg, which is now being at Rs 180 per kg.
The trend shows that during last two months, the ghee manufacturers increased the prices by Rs 30-40 per kg - Dalda cooking oil (per 5 kg) was available at Rs 750 in December 2010, while now it is being sold at Rs 950. Banaspati Ghee Traders told Business Recorder that Latif Banaspati ghee was the cheapest ghee in December 2010 which was available at Rs 140 per kg, but after the continued increase in prices, now it is as expensive as other brands.
In the survey it was further observed that Lipton Tea Company has increased the price of tea bag by Rs 30 per packet which consists of 100 bags. During the week under review the price of chicken (live) increased from Rs 125 to Rs 144 per kg and chicken meat from Rs 200 to Rs 240, red chillies increased from Rs 260 to Rs 320 per kg, mash pulse washed from Rs 158 per kg to Rs 163 per kg, and garlic from Rs 200 per kg to Rs 210 per kg.
Moreover, fruit prices also witnessed upward trend in the last week. During the week under review apples were available at Rs 100 to Rs 120 per kg depending on quality of the fruit against previous price of Rs 80 to Rs 90 per kg. Banana was sold at Rs 80 against Rs 60 in the previous week. Guava prices remained unchanged at Rs 60 per kg during the week.
Nazir Ahmed, a buyer at a fruit shop, said that he was surprised to know about the orange and banana prices as under the present economic conditions, one common man is unable to purchase orange at Rs 120 per dozen and banana at Rs 70 per dozen, adding that apples are being sold at Rs 100-120 per kg.
Justifying high prices of fruit and vegetables, the shopkeepers said that the prices were high in wholesale market, where they purchase orange at Rs 400 per basket, which contains 80-100 oranges. They said that huge quantity of banana and oranges are being exported which has increased the local prices. The price of cabbage, cauliflower, gur, sugar, pulses like moong, malsh, masoor pulse washed were stable, according to the survey.
Traders as well as consumers at wholesales market of Rawalpindi/Islamabad were of the view that retailers were charging their own prices across the country, which must be stopped by the authorities concerned.
Last week, the traders of rice also increased the prices of different varieties of the commodity like Irri, Basmati and Broken Basmati were available at Rs 60 per kg, Rs 110 per kg and Rs 75 per kg against their previous week prices of Rs 55 per kg, Rs 90 per kg and Rs 65 per kg, respectively.
The consumers told BR that in absence of any viable price control, the traders are taking full advantage of the situation and they increase prices of essential the commodities whatever the way they like. However, egg prices witnessed a decrease of Rs 10 to Rs 15 per dozen during the week.
Vegetable prices remained the same and no change was noted during the week. Onions price, which significantly increased during the past few months owing to its export, is now being sold at Rs 35-40 per kg. Tomato and potato prices remained unchanged, as both the commodities are being sold at Rs 50 and Rs 20 per kg, respectively.