Hike in flour, onion prices adds to consumers’ woes in Karachi

Hike in flour, onion rates adds to consumers' woes in Karachi.

Key points

• Aamir Shafaat Khan Published August 26, 2026 Updated August 27, 2026 08: 13am.
• Besides, consumers are facing another shock, paying Rs150-180 per kilogramme for onions, depending on their size, compared with Rs110-150 per kg a week ago.
• Flour millers raise rates by up to Rs275 per 50kg bag Naan, sheermal and taftaan rates shoot up by Rs5-10.
• Those who were selling naan and sheermal at Rs25 and Rs90 are now demanding Rs30 and Rs100, respectively.
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Aamir Shafaat Khan Published August 26, 2026 Updated August 27, 2026 08: 13am. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

KARACHI: Ahead of the arrival of one million tonnes of imported wheat, a fresh surge in flour rates has further pushed up the rates of various varieties of roti by Rs5-10 per piece in the metropolis.

Besides, consumers are facing another shock, paying Rs150-180 per kilogramme for onions, depending on their size, compared with Rs110-150 per kg a week ago. In the last week of July, onions were selling at Rs90-120 per kg.

As for flour varieties, two days ago, flour millers in Karachi raised the rates of a 50kg bag of flour no. 2.5, a 50kg bag of maida and a 50kg bag of fine flour to Rs7, 200, Rs7, 600 and Rs7, 750, respectively, an growth of Rs250-275 per 50kg bag, citing rising wheat costs in the open market.

At the end of April 2026, a 50kg bag of flour no. 2.5, a 50kg bag of maida and a 50kg bag of fine flour were available at Rs5, 600, Rs5, 800 and Rs6, 000, respectively.

While pushing up the rate of sheermal and taftaan to Rs110 from Rs100 per piece, claiming higher weight and better quality, after the rise in flour rates, a number of major tandoor operators are charging up to Rs35 for one naan, compared with Rs30.

Notably, the Karachi commissioner had fixed in February the rates of chapati and tandoori naan weighing 120 grammes, 140, 150 grammes and 180 grammes at Rs14, Rs18, Rs21 and Rs27, respectively.

While defying the official rates, had rose the costs of various varieties, including chapati roti, naan, sheermal, taftaan and kulcha, by Rs2-10 per piece, suggesting that the official rates carry little weight with the tandoor operators, in May and June, tandoor owners.

Consumers have not shown any resistance to the tandoor operators pushing up the rates of roti varieties. They simply pay the inflated rates without bothering to check the weight of the dough, especially for naan.

Flour rates have additionally gone up nationwide. According to data from the Sensitive Cost Index (SPI) for the week ending Aug 20, 2026, the national average rate of a 20kg flour bag, a 10kg wheat bag and one kilogramme of fine flour stood at Rs2, 200-3, 133, Rs1, 236 and Rs153, respectively, compared with Rs1, 810-2, 740, Rs1, 039 and Rs137 at the end of March 2026.

Branded flour already sells at higher rates than the normal market cost. For example, a branded five-kilogramme bag of fine flour in Karachi is sold at Rs850-900, but the cost regulator has taken no action. 'Country needs over four million tonnes of wheat'.

For context, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has been tasked with importing one million tonnes of wheat despite a 4.3 per cent growth in wheat production during FY26 to 29.61 million tonnes, according to the Economic Survey FY26.

Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) chairman Rauf Ibrahim remarked only seven to eight months remained before the arrival of the new wheat crop, but the TCP was yet to problem an international tender for the grain import. It would take two to three months to arrive.

Notably, the administration should not import wheat through the TCP or commercial importers, he stated, urging it to allow flour millers to import the grain themselves and fix quotas for each mill.

Besides, he remarked, imports of one million tonnes were not enough to meet wheat and flour demand for the upcoming months. The country, he continued, needed more than four million tonnes.

Mr Ibrahim remarked there should be no ban on the inter-provincial movement of wheat.

Punjab has produced 22 million tonnes this year against its consumption of 15 million tonnes, but the province has banned the movement of wheat, pushing its cost in the open market to Rs130 per kg.

He pressed the administration to resolve the wheat crisis immediately as winter demand rose. It may create a supply-demand gap and lead to further increases in the costs of various flour varieties. New onion crop to reach by end of September, October.

While Sindh's new crop would reach the markets by the end of September and October, falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market, Super Highway, president Haji Shahjehan remarked only the Balochistan crop was at present feeding the entire country.

Onions from Afghanistan applied to assist meet the supply-demand gap in the local crop, but the arrival of Afghan onions had been suspended for months. Otherwise, the situation would have been different, he remarked.

He continued that a highly small quantity of onions had began arriving from Iran, but the quality was mediocre. Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026.

Aamir Shafaat Khan is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 25 years of experience. He covers trade and industry, with a particular focus on market surveys, food inflation, commodity rates, the automobile sector and broader industrial matters.

In short, hike in flour, onion prices adds to consumers' woes in Karachi is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.