Kenya To Fall Short of COMESA Sugar Import Quota

Kenya might fall short of meeting its sugar import quota from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) by the end of the year.

According to Head of the Sugar Directorate Willice Audi, this is due to an acute shortage of the commodity in the world market, a move that is likely to push local prices upper given the shortage of cane in the local factories.

“There is a shortage of sugar in our source markets and this, coupled with prevailing high prices has seen traders lag in imports,” said Mr. Audi.

This year Kenya is supposed to import 180,000 tonnes of sugar from Comesa member states. The country has however imported 48 percent of the total allocation with only a few weeks to the end of the year.

Initially, Kenya was allowed to import 350,000 tonnes of sugar from Comesa states but the Treasury lowered this to 210,000 last year. This followed complaints from Kenyan millers and farmers that the government allows the importation of more sugar than is required, impacting negatively on the local prices.

The price of a kilogram of sugar has so far hit a high of 155 shillings in October from an average of 138.35 shillings in September. On a year-year basis, the price of the sweetener surged by 36.3 percent.

Kenya has since June cut its sugar imports owing to the increased sugarcane production. During the month, Kenya imported 17,231 tonnes of sugar compared to the 33,650 tonnes imported the previous month. The directorate said sugar production jumped 11.3 percent to 70,376 tonnes in June, with the benefit passed to the consumers, as prices of the commodity remained low.

“Total sugar production in June 2022 was 70,376 tonnes from the previous month where we recorded a total of 63,209 (tonnes),” it said.

Production of the sweetener however sunk significantly to 46,459 tonnes in August from the 70,278 tonnes recorded a month earlier. The fall was attributed to the scarcity of mature canes and the closure of most factories for maintenance. The directorate reported that several factories that had closed have so far reopened with production expected to be boosted.

The recent increase in prices is one of the highest in recent years and adds to a long list of other commodities whose prices have become so expensive that most households have opted to go without.