News
Talks on with wheat flour exporters in Turkey and Dubai to bring down flour, says minister
View(s):By Chirs Kamalendran and Yoshitha Perera
Negotiations are being held with wheat flour exporters in Turkey and Dubai to bring down the required quantity of flour to the country and meet the demand, Trade Minister Nalin Fernando said.
Due to the shortage, the retail price of wheat flour has increased even at Sathosa and Co-operative outlets. Vendors said the wholesale price of wheat flour a kilogram was between Rs. 350 and 400 while the retail price stands at Rs. 360 – 380.
“Due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, India presently forbids the export of a number of foods. As a result, they also prohibited the import of wheat flour and restricted its export,” said Minister Ferando.
The two major companies engaged in the local manufacturing process of wheat flour; Prima Ceylon (Pvt) Limited and Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Limited have stocks and they had reached an agreement with the Ministry to release their stocks weekly to the wholesale market, the Minister said.
“I have also informed the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to monitor the delivery of these stocks and to submit a weekly report into the matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, a local wheat flour importer who used to import 70 metric tonnes of wheat flour a month said people who have ample supply are not releasing the stocks into the market and are creating an artificial scarcity.
“Russia and Ukraine are the leading grain exporters in the market and because of the ongoing conflict they have restricted exporting the product. Consumers have to accept the present condition of rising prices of bakery products since it will prevail in the next two years as well. The bakery owners also have to find alternatives such as rice flour to make their products,” he said.
The All Ceylon Bakery Owners Association yesterday decided to increase the price of a 450g loaf of bread to Rs. 300.
The association’s chairman N.K. Jayawardena said that due to the rapid increase in wheat flour they are compelled to increase the price of bread and other bakery products.
“The bag of 50 kg wheat flour is over Rs. 20,000 in the wholesale market and more than 2000 bakeries across the country have closed down amidst the shortage of wheat flour,” he said.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!