BY SAMUEL NABWIISO
KAMPALA, Uganda-A new monthly market report for the month of April on East African grains indicates that prices for staple grains in East Africa remain relatively stable thanks to good supplies for grains to the markets in the region.
A report from the East African Grain Council titled “East Africa grain markets and trade” shows that during the month of Aprils 2018, prices for rice, sorghum, wheat and beans declined as comparedto the previous month.
The report shows that for the month of April, a metric ton of maize in Kampala went for USD 194 in compared to the USD 191 in March. In Nairobi, the price was USD 330 in March and 313 USD in April , in Kigali the price for maize stood at USD 212 in March and USD 198 in April and in Dar es Salaam a metric ton went at USD 267 in March and USD 266 respectively .
For the case of red sorghum the price were as follows, Nairobi USD 492 in march and USD 474 in April, in Kampala the price was USD 244 in March and USD 239, for Nairobi the price decline by -3.7% and that of Kigali went down by -1.8%.
In Burundi and Rwanda, domestic stocks eased pressure on demand resulting to the decline in prices as observed.
However supply of rice remained tightened in the monitored markets with demand mainly met by supplies from the global market.
Maize prices continued on a downward trend with Kampala recording the lowest price in the region. Beans prices gained marginally with stocks harvested early in the year from Uganda.
The grain council market trend report analyses markets both in the informal sector trade and cross boarder business and reveals that the demand for maize remains strong in Kenya with positive values recorded from Uganda and Tanzania.
“In April, trade with Uganda increased with about 22,545.2MT of maize and an additional 2851MT from Tanzania through the monitored trade corridors. This was a significant increase from previous months volumes” Read part of the report.
Apart from Maize, beans export to Kenya also increased due to the high demand for the goods especially in the Eastern parts of Kenya. The grain report shows that beans imports from Uganda to Kenya increased by 21.3% as domestic stocks decreased.
Tanzania in the reviewed month, exported the largest volume of rice in the region mainly to Kenya and Rwanda.
“Tanzania exported about 5444 MT of rice to the region informally and this represented a 25.7% (1,113.8MT) increase from the previous month’s volumes. Imports to Rwanda accounted for 56% of total trade from Tanzania” The report added.
According to the report, the good supply for grain in the region is attributed to the good weather partners that most countries experienced.
The report notes that in March East Africa experienced near normal to severely wet conditions with part of North and South of Kenya experiencing extremely wet conditions. In Burundi and southern Tanzania, there was near normal to moderately dry conditions.
