A shopper picks up sugar at a supermarket in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Sugar imports in the first quarter of the year rose 130 percent
compared with the similar period last year against the backdrop of a
decline in local production.
According to the Sugar
Directorate, imports of the sweetener between January and March stood at
113,516 tonnes compared with 49,445 in the corresponding period last
year.
The increase in imports came amidst a 14 percent decline in local production.
“Sugar
imported in January–March 2019 totalled 113,516 tonnes against 49,445
tonnes in the same period last year, a 130 percent increase, attributed
to low table sugar imports in 2018 due to huge stocks of cheap duty-free
sugar in 2017,” said the directorate.
The ex-factory
sugar price was at a monthly average of Sh4,082 at the beginning of the
year before dropping to Sh3,868 for a 50-kilo bag in February. However,
in March the prices increased to Sh3,912.
“The slight improvement witnessed in March 2019 is an indicator that the ex-factory sugar prices downward trend has reversed.
“However, the upward trend will largely depend on sugar imports and pricing,” reads the report.
Total
sugar sales in the review period were 142,717 tonnes compared with
151,869 tonnes sold in the same period last year, a decline of six
percent.
Total sugar closing stock held by all the
factories at the end of March was 7,021 tonnes against 20,770 tonnes in
March last year.
The consumer price of sugar has so far
dropped by 11 percent, coming as a relief to the households who are
currently grappling with the high cost of living that saw inflation
shoot to a two-month high in March.
A two-kilogramme
packet of branded sugar has now dropped from a high Sh230 last month to a
low of Sh205 for the same quantity as the market responds to an
increase of cheap sugar in the market.
The decline in
price is also attributed to the release of sugar that the government had
confiscated during the crackdown on illegal sweetener last year.
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