The market of kitchen items is calm in the south of the country despite devastating floods up-country.
“There is a sense of anxiety but the mood is not reflected in prices which have already been on the higher side,” said a market leader.
Wholesalers say so far floods have not caused ripples in prices as currently vegetable supplies to Karachi are coming from Sindh and Balochistan. They expect the situation to change for worse when flood enters Sindh.
They said that onion, tomato, green chillies, ginger and garlic usually become costlier prior to Eidul Azha amid high demand and slow supplies as truckers prefer transporting sacrificial animals from interior Sindh and other parts of the country instead of other commodities.
Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) Senior Vice Chairman Malik Zulfiqar Ali claimed that supply of basmati rice from Punjab (both for export and local consumption) had plunged by 60pc due to the flood.
However, he said that low supply had not caused any spiral in basmati rice prices in view of normal demand in Karachi.
He said supply of black gram from Punjab had not been hit so far. There was also no serious issue of pulses availability as most of pulses were being imported.
