ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential kitchen items have witnessed an increasing trend during this week past against the previous week, revealed a survey carried out by Business Recorder here on Saturday.
The survey observed wheat flour price remained unchanged as the best quality wheat flour ex-mill per 15kg bag is available at Rs1,100 which in retail is being sold at Rs1,150 per 15kg bag and normal quality wheat flour per 15kg bag is available at Rs1,000 which in retail is being sold at Rs1,050 per bag.
After a significant reduction of Rs1,400 per 15kg bag in wheat flour price over the past one year the tandoor owners in some parts of the twin cities have reduced the Roti, Naan and Paratha prices as in some parts of the federal capital Roti is available at Rs16 against Rs20, Naan at Rs20 against Rs25 and Paratha at Rs45 against Rs50, however Quetta hotels chain has not reduced Paratha price and are selling at highest rate of Rs60 per paratha.
The bakers instead of reducing the biscuits, bread and confectionery items prices, have increased the prices of bakery items despite over 56 percent reduction in flour prices over 31 percent reduction in ghee/cooking oil prices. During past two years, top quality cooking oil/ghee prices such as Dalda reduced by 25 percent from Rs3,600 per 5kg to Rs2,700 and normal ghee prices reduced by 31 percent from Rs8,800 per carton of 16 packs to Rs6,100.
The prices of cooked food items remained stable as a cooked daal/vegetable plate at a normal hotel is available at Rs320, cooked beef plate at Rs550, cooked chicken plate at Rs500, cooked mutton at Rs750 and naan/roti is being sold at Rs25/30.
An increase was noted in chicken prices as it went up from Rs13,800 to Rs16,000 per 40kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs440 against Rs370 per kg and chicken meat price went up from Rs620 to Rs700 per kg. Eggs price remained stable at Rs7,000 per carton of 30 dozen which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs250-260 per dozen. Sugar price went up from Rs9,000 to Rs9,100 per 50kg bag in the wholesale market, while in retail it is being sold at 190 per kg.
Mutton and beef prices remained stable as normal quality mutton was available at Rs2,200 per kg, normal quality boneless beef at Rs1,400 per kg, and normal beef at Rs1,100 per kg. Various varieties of fishes are available in the range of Rs500 to Rs900 per kg.
No changes were witnessed in tea prices, as Lipton Yellow Label is available at Rs2,200 per 900 grams pack and Islamabad Tea is available at Rs1,800 per kg; normal quality turmeric powder is available at Rs650 against Rs600 per kg and normal quality red chilli powder at Rs800 per kg.
Pulses prices remained stable as maash pulse is available at Rs390 per kg, gram pulse at Rs270 per kg, whole gram pulse at Rs250 per kg, various varieties of bean lentils in the range of Rs400-500 per kg, moong pulse at Rs380 per kg, and masoor pulse at Rs280 per kg.
The prices of branded spices such as Shan, National, and others, also remained stable as a pack of 39 grams of spice is available at Rs140. The prices of the various varieties of rice remained stable as the best quality basmati price in wholesale market is available at Rs14,000 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs390 per kg, normal quality Basmati at RS13,000 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs360 per kg, and broken Basmati at Rs10,000 per 40kg bag, which in retail is being sold at Rs260 per kg.
Ghee/cooking oil prices also remained stable as B-grade ghee/oil is available at Rs6,150 per carton of 16 packs in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold at Rs480 per pack of 900 grams, while best quality cooking oil/ghee brands such as Dalda ghee is available at Rs2,720 per 5kg tin and cooking at Rs2,720 per 5-litre bottle. Prices of packed milk brands Milk-Pak, Olpers and others went up from Rs2,250 to Rs2,350 per carton while in retail 250ml packed milk is being sold at Rs95 against Rs90 per 250ml.
Similarly, litre pack price went up from Rs350 to Rs370 per litre. Fresh milk prices in some parts of the twin cities are being sold at Rs220 per kg while in some parts is still being sold at Rs230 per kg and yogurt price is stable at Rs250 per kg. No changes were observed in the prices of powder milk such as Nido and Lactogen as 400gram Nido powder milk is available at Rs1,320 and 200gram pack at Rs700 per pack.
Bathing soaps other than Safeguard prices remained stable as family-size Safeguard price went up from Rs150 per pack to Rs160 per pack while Dettol, Lux, Palmolives and others are available at Rs150 per pack, and detergent prices went slightly up as Ariel Surf, Brite, Express Power and others are available at Rs570 against Rs550 per kg pack. The prices of various brands of cold drinks such as Pepsi, Coke, Miranda and others remained stable as family-size bottle is available at Rs230.
Officially the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) while announcing a reduction of Rs6.47 per kg in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) price has fixed it at Rs233 against Rs240.53 per kg, while retailers have not reduced the commodity price and still selling 15kg domestic LPG cylinder at Rs4,000 against Rs3,495 OGRA fixed price reflecting an overcharging of Rs505 per cylinder. Moreover, the retailers through decanting are selling the LPG on further escalated rates as they charge Rs300-330 per kg, reflecting an overcharging of Rs67-92 per kg.
LPG traders and distributors always blame the marketing companies for higher prices, saying the companies are supplying them the commodity on higher prices as a result retailers are left with no option other than shifting the price to the end consumers.
According to LPG traders, the LPG marketing companies and distributors are earning billions of rupees profit by overcharging the consumers, while the OGRA which totally depends on district administration including police have totally ignored the enforcement of official commodity rates. Moreover, LPG distributors and retailers are freely selling LPG by decanting in violation of the laws as a result every other day LPG cylinder blasts are claiming precious lives.
Overall, vegetable and fruit prices witnessed an increasing trend as potatoes price in wholesale market went up from Rs2,700-4,300 to Rs3,200-5,000 per quintal, while in retail potatoes are being sold in the range of Rs60-80 against Rs55-70 per kg; onion price in wholesale market went up from Rs1,300-2,700 Rs1,500-3,000 per quintal, in retail onions are being sold in the range of Rs35-60 per kg and tomato price went up from Rs220 to Rs330 per basket of 15kg, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs50-70 against Rs40-60 per kg.
Ginger price went down from Rs2,000 to Rs1,500/1,600 per 5kg in the wholesale market, which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs450-500 against Rs500-525 per kg, local garlic price is stable at Rs750 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs200 per kg, Quetta garlic price is stable at Rs900 per 5 kg which in retail is being sold at Rs250 per kg, China garlic price went up from Rs1,000 to Rs1,150 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs250-300 against Rs230-240 per kg.
Capsicum price went up from Rs250 to Rs350 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs90-110 against Rs75-80 per kg, prices of various varieties of pumpkins went up from Rs100-500 per 5kg to Rs100-750 per 5kg in wholesale market, which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs40-220 against Rs40-140 per kg; various types of tinda prices remained stable at Rs150-750 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs55-200 against per kg; eggplant price went up from Rs280 to Rs400 per 5kg, which in retail are being sold at Rs110-140 against Rs75-80 per kg; cauliflower price went up from Rs450 to Rs550 per 5kg in wholesale market, which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs150-170 against Rs120-130 per kg and cabbage price went up from Rs250 to Rs350 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs90-100 against Rs65-75 per kg.
Okra price went up from Rs400 to Rs550 per 5kg in wholesale market which in retail is being sold at Rs150-170 against Rs100-130 per kg, Bitter gourd price went up from Rs400 to Rs550 per 5kg which in retail is being sold in the range of Rs140-160 against Rs100-120 per kg, green chilli price is stable at Rs300-400 per 5kg in the wholesale market which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs100-130 per kg, beetroot price is stable at Rs300 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs80-90 per kg, china carrot price is stable at Rs350 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs90-100 per kg and cucumber price went down from Rs300 to Rs150 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs50-60 against Rs80-90 per kg.
Fresh Bean price is stable at Rs450 per 5kg which in retail are being sold at Rs120-140 per kg, Yam price is also stable at Rs500 per 5kg, which in retail is being sold at Rs130-140 per kg; turnip is stable at Rs225 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs65-75 per kg; peas price went up from Rs800 to Rs950 per 5kg which in retail are being sold in the range of Rs230-250 against Rs200-225 per kg; spinach is available at Rs150 per 5kg which in retail is being sold at Rs15-20 per bundle of 200 grams and Coriander is available at Rs250 per 5kg in wholesales market which in retail is being sold at Rs30-35 per bundle of 250 grams.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
