Iranian tomatoes fail to ease prices
KARACHI: The arrival of Iranian tomatoes has failed to bring any respite to consumers, as prices have swelled to Rs450-500 per kg. Interestingly, retailers are also forcing consumers to pay the same prices for tomatoes from Balochistan crops. A number of...
Tomato prices in Karachi have stayed stubbornly high despite the arrival of Iranian supplies, with retailers and wholesalers still charging around Rs450 to Rs500 per kilogram, according to a monitored public feed citing Dawn Business.
The report said the new arrivals have not brought relief for consumers, who continue to see tomatoes sold at Rs110 to Rs125 for 250 grams in some markets. Traders were also reported to be passing on the same elevated rates to tomatoes sourced from Balochistan, while some shops were selling smaller, unripe fruit at about Rs400 per kilogram.
Consumers, the report said, are buying less as prices remain out of reach, often getting only two or three small tomatoes for Rs50 to Rs60. Tomato prices had already climbed above Rs300 per kilogram earlier this month, after being much lower in June and April, showing how quickly the market has tightened.
Younus Soomro, a tomato grower and former vice-president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Dawn Business that Iranian supplies are reaching Karachi in limited numbers, with an average of about 10 containers a day. He said nearly 30% of the Iranian tomatoes are damaged by the time they arrive and that they do not match local tomatoes in taste or quality.
According to the report, traders are also hesitant to stock Iranian tomatoes because they soften faster than Pakistani fruit. That has left the market dependent mainly on the Balochistan crop, which is not enough to meet demand across the country. In Sindh, planting is only now beginning, and harvesting is expected by mid-September.
The feed also noted that the tomato crop ended in April, while supplies from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab typically arrive in May and June. However, those supplies remained largely confined to those provinces and were not enough to fully ease pressure in Karachi.
The report further cited Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data showing a sharp drop in total vegetable exports in FY26 to 594,104 tonnes worth $163 million, compared with 1.448 million tonnes valued at $367 million in FY25. Mr Soomro said vegetable exports have been limited to small air shipments, while potatoes and onions were not exported because vessels were unavailable for Dubai amid the Gulf conflict. He added that shipments to Afghanistan and CIS countries had already stopped after the closure of the Afghan border.
This article is based on a monitored public feed and attributed reporting from Dawn Business.
Source: Dawn Business - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017429/iranian-tomatoes-fail-to-ease-prices
