East Africa Update

Maize Price Fall Sees Lower Price For Maize Flour

The price of maize in Kenya has seen a fall to KES 2,800 per 90 kg bag following on from the start of the harvest in the South Rift area as this has been the first time prices have been indicated below the KES 3,000 per 90 kg mark for most of the year.

The Business Daily reports on how this high saw a price of KES 120 per 2kg pack of maize flour and how now the consumer is expected to see a slightly lower price reflected on flour over the next few weeks. The current prices have also been reducing due to the recent imports from Tanzania and this has led to many farmers complaining that they would not make a profit if maize is selling below KES 3,000 per bag.

Millers imported approximately 855,000 bags of white maize even though they were granted a quota of 2 million bags but most of the stock has remained at the port in Mombasa due the maize landing in Nairobi at KES 3,600 per bag.

Animal feed prices hit a new high

The reduced operations from millers in Kenya has seen animal feed prices increase as millers have stated that the slow movement of maize flour has resulted in their scaling back. The recent imports of white and yellow maize has not had a major impact on the feed prices as reported by the Business Daily.

A kilo of wheat bran is being quoted at KES 20 from KES 14, maize germ KES 17 to KES 25 and wheat pollard from KES 20 to KES 28. Retail prices have seen a three year high for animal feed as the price for a 70 kg bag of chick mash has gone up from KES 3,300 to KES 3,600 while growers mash has gone from KES 2,800 to KES 3,100 and standard dairy meal is quoted at KES 2,500 from KES 2,200.

Uganda Market Update

The maize in the Kampala area is trading below UGX 800 per kg as suppliers begin to start holding their stocks with the anticipation of a price increase of the next few weeks. Soybeans are still steady at UGX 1,250 per kg in the Kampala area but available circa UGX 1,100 per kg in Northern Uganda.

Nambale beans are seeing a steady increase in price and is quoted at UGX 3,300 per kg as demand is still expected to increase over the next two months. Maize bran, though in smaller quantities, is trading at UGX 550 per kg in the Kampala area and there has been increasing interest from Kenyan traders.

For updates on the global food trade please see our report Hot Commodities at panxchange.com/hot-commodities