Wheat and maize flour in a super market. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Wheat flour retail prices have risen for the second time since May with millers associating the development to delays in offloading imports at the Mombasa Port.
Demurrage charges have seen shipping vessels pay up to Sh30 million a month, which is now being passed on to local consumers.Ship owners pay the levy for delayed loading or unloading. The retail price for a two-kilogram packet now stands at Sh133 for Exe brand up from Sh120 two months ago.Golden is being sold at Sh129 up from Sh122 with Jimbi retailing at Sh135. Other brands are missing in supermarkets. Retailers say the prices will continue rising as long as it takes longer to offload the wheat from the ships.The delays, millers say, have been occasioned by the priority given to white maize at the port. Wheat has of recent become an important substitute for maize which is currently scarce.Local wheat is selling at Sh3,200 for a 90-kilogram bag compared to the imported one which sells at Sh2,600. Kenyan farmers have been pushing for higher wheat prices forcing millers to look to the international market.Millers recently said they prefer imported wheat because of its superior quality and is used in blending with the locally produced one to achieve the consumers’ preferred taste. This year the government allocated each miller a local wheat quota based on their installed capacity.The new regulation forced millers to finish the purchase of their allocated quota before being issued with an import licence for duty-free grain.The Mombasa port has been accused of being slow in offloading cargo. Last month, a consignment of yellow maize meant for preparing animal feed was stuck at the port for fourteen days.