Cooking oil and ghee prices have witnessed a steep increase of Rs6-7 per kg during the last four days, as edible oil industry in the country has shut down its operations in protest against organised extortion of transporters. Ghee dealers believe if this situation persists for few more days, the market would get dry resultantly and prices would further jump up.
Speaking to Profit, a ghee dealer at Akbari Market, Mubashir Afzal, said profiteers had started manipulating cooking oil and ghee market. He disclosed during the last four days, ghee prices had witnessed a jump of Rs7 per kg after which A-category 16-kilogram ghee tin was hovering between Rs2,760 to Rs2,770, while B-category ghee was being sold at Rs2,520 per 16 kg tin in wholesale.
He revealed investors, hoarders and profiteers, all were on money making spree in Akbari Market. “They buy stock in the evening and sell them on inflated prices in the morning as new supply is stopped due to ghee industry strike. However, dealers still have some stocks available, which would hardly last for a couple of days,” he maintained. Another dealer said panic buying was also being witnessed in the markets. He said if the supply was not restored immediately, ghee prices could swell further.
On the other hand, Pakistan Vanapati Manufacturer Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman Abdul Waheed said the entire ghee and cooking oil industry had shut down its operation across Pakistan against blackmailing of transporters, but nobody was paying heed to the issue.
He said domestic ghee industry was in the grip transport and tanker mafia, which had paralysed the transportation of imported edible oil from Port Qasim, Karachi to upcountry destinations. Ghee industry had been victimised by constant unilateral increase in transportation rates, black mailing and pilferage of cargo since long, he underscored.
The burning of four NLC tankers loaded with edible oil worth Rs30 million by tanker mafia on February 17, created a wave of fear and uncertainty among ghee manufacturers. The tanker mafia had further flouted the judgment of honourable Sind High Court, Karachi dated February 15, 2012, he maintained.
He pointed out public exchequer had to incur a loss of Rs1.5 billion due to industry closure during the last five days. In addition, some 50,000 daily wagers had been jobless throughout the country. Ghee manufacturers would continue their agitation till industry reservations were not addressed, he exclaimed.
Responding to a query, he estimated some 230,000 tonnes of oil had been stuck at ports, whereas, some 50,000 tonnes of shortage had been created in the market due to the industry shut down. He appealed the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of this issue and provide relief to the domestic industry.
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