In Sialkot, dry fruit prices have soared and seem to be getting higher every day.

Pine nuts or chilgozay are being sold at Rs7,500 per kilo. This is a Rs1,500 jump from the previous price of Rs6,000 per kilo.

Pistachios and cashew nuts now cost Rs2,000 per kilo and peanuts–a national staple– have risen to Rs350 per kilo.

Rs7,500 per kilo may sound like the cost of a precious metal but it’s actually the price of a nut.

Shopkeepers are troubled because they say no one is buying their products.

People come into our shops, ask the price of dry fruit, especially pine nuts, and then walk right out, they say.

Because of this, they have to keep smaller amounts of nuts at their stores.

These climbing prices have become an actual crisis and cases of pine nut theft have also been reported.