Millers warn of Sh90 maize flour scarcity

CMA chairman Nick Hutchinson (left) and vice-chairman Mohamed Islam before the Agriculture committee on May 30, 2017. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG  

By EDWIN MUTAI

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Summary

• The Cereal Millers Association chairman Nick Hutchinson on Tuesday told MPs that millers had run out of stock and that they depend on the imports from private operators.
• He said despite the second vessel arriving at the Mombasa port Tuesday, it had not been offloaded.
• Mr Hutchinson added that congestion at the port and transportation for milling pose a great challenge to the availability of subsidised maize flour.

Grain millers Tuesday warned that the scarcity of the subsidised Sh90 maize flour will continue unless the government secures additional imports.

Nick Hutchinson, the Cereal Millers Association chairman, told MPs that they had run out of stock and that they depend on the imports from private operators.

“All millers have run out of maize. We are all waiting for the next vessel to arrive. The end of May is tight and end of June is tight,” Mr Hutchinson told the parliamentary Agriculture Committee last evening.

“We need to ensure that the strategic grain reserve has enough stocks. The only way to get six million bags in our strategic grain reserve is for the government to import itself.”

He said despite the second vessel arriving at the Mombasa port Tuesday, it had not been offloaded.

Mr Hutchinson added that congestion at the port and transportation for milling pose a great challenge to the availability of subsidised maize flour.

“One vessel has docked today (yesterday) and the next is expected at the Mombasa port mid -June. The lack of steady supply could see the prices of unga rise to where we were at Sh135 per two-kg packet of maize,” he said.

READ: Sh90 maize flour ship delayed in high seas

Millers said there was a huge jam at the port and some vessels will to wait up to 20 days to offload maize.

“We have a huge backlog of offloading and millers could pass demurrage charges back to consumers,” Rajim Shah, a Thika-based miller said.
The vessel that arrived yesterday has 445-000 bags of cheap Mexican maize.

After offloading, the maize will take up eight days to be transported to the mills and back to shops, a pointer that the shortages will take longer to ease.

The cheap maize is the product of a Sh6 billion subsidy to lower the price of a 90-kg bag of maize to Sh2,300 from above Sh4,000, allowing the two-kg packet of flour to sell for Sh90 down from the market cost of Sh140.

Rising prices of staple maize flour and other foodstuff has become a political headache for President Uhuru Kenyatta as he seeks a second term in August elections.

He is running against opposition leader Raila Odinga, who has used the high cost of living to portray the government as incompetent.

The high cost of food saw inflation jump to 11.48 in April from 10.28 the previous month, taking it beyond the Treasury’s preferred upper limit of 7.5 per cent. The cost of living measure is at a 57-month high.

The price jumps are partly caused by drought that has left around 2.7 million people are in need of food aid.

Sugar, maize flour, beans and Sukuma Wiki have increased 21.6 per cent, 31.2 per cent, 21.3 per cent and 63.2 per cent respectively over the past year.