PESHAWAR – The provincial capital is facing a severe threat of an artificial food supply crisis. Following a significant drop in incoming shipments, wheat flour supplies have plummeted across Peshawar, raising serious concerns that local dealers are hoarding stocks to artificially inflate retail prices.
Peshawar Faces Flour Crisis as Supply Squeezes, Dealers Hide Wheat Stocks
Spiking Wheat Prices and Empty Warehouses
The open market has reacted sharply to the supply squeeze, with the wholesale price of a 40kg bag of wheat climbing steadily. This sustained price hike has led to a depletion of flour stocks at major wholesale hubs, including the central markets of Ashraf Road and Faqirabad.
Furthermore, because of the continuous rise in prices, several dealers have reportedly pulled their remaining stocks from the retail shelves. This deliberate hoarding has caused essential varieties of flour to vanish from the market. Local traders report that premium “Special Fine” and regular “Fine” flour are now completely missing or only partially available in the city, leaving consumers with no choice but to buy low-quality mixed flour.
Flour crisis in KP exposes Punjab’s ruthless wheat politics
The Impact of Punjab’s Long-Term Export Ban
According to local distributors, the root cause of the current crisis lies in inter-provincial trade restrictions. The ban on flour shipments from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has now been active for several consecutive months.
Undoubtedly, because Punjab itself is experiencing wheat availability challenges, all official state-level grain supplies to KP have ground to a halt. Without immediate administrative intervention from the KP Food Department to check retail hoarding and negotiate supply corridors, citizens in Peshawar will face a very difficult winter.
