Pakistani millers warn of 1.5 mln tons wheat shortage in Punjab

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), Punjab chapter, has estimated a wheat shortage of 1.5 million tons in the province and urged the Punjab government to take immediate action to prevent a potential crisis. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, PFMA Punjab chairman Riazullah Khan, along with group leader and former central chairman Asim Raza, stated that there is no overall wheat shortage in the country, but Punjab is facing a serious local problem that requires urgent resolution.

PFMA suggested that wheat could be procured from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) or imported, depending on government decisions. Khan also called for the distribution of undeclared wheat stocks, confiscated by the administration, with fair allocation to flour mills across Punjab to ensure availability of flour at government-fixed prices. He emphasized that flour mills should operate freely under Pakistan’s Constitution and the provincial government’s wheat deregulation policy, demanding the removal of interprovincial transport restrictions on wheat and flour. Khan further urged the cancellation of the 40% penalty on confiscated wheat, noting that current wheat prices in Punjab (3000–3100 PKR per maund) are incompatible with the government-fixed price of 2900 PKR, complicating flour supply under the regulated system.

In 2025, Punjab, Pakistan’s largest wheat-producing province (accounting for about 70–80% of national output), suffered heavy losses due to floods caused by intense monsoon rains in August–September. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 1.3 million hectares of land were flooded, including 0.93 million hectares of cropland, with Punjab hit the hardest. This resulted in the destruction of a significant portion of the harvest, including wheat, rice, cotton, and maize, threatening food security and potentially triggering a grain market crisis.

Tags: Pakistan, wheat, flour