Improved supply of sugar from regional markets cushioned consumers from the effects of lower output over the first half of the year, new statistics by the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) show.
Imports of white and brown sugar climbed 130 per cent to 132,755 tonnes between January and June, saving the country from the effects of a potential rise in the prices of the commodity after local millers recorded a nine per cent dip in production to 286,202 tonnes compared to the previous year, hit by poor cane supplies.
Low supplies of sugar in the local and international markets early last year saw the price of the commodity climb to a record Sh250 a kilogramme in some parts of the country.
Lured by opportunities of the record high world sugar prices, suppliers from Comesa diverted their stocks to better paying European, American and Asian markets, bringing some relief to local producers highly disadvantaged by high production cost and inefficient systems.
This has since changed amid the projections of a glut in 2012. Forecasts in international futures markets showed that in August sugar prices will stand at $595 a tonne compared to $700-800 in a similar period last year, representing a 26 per cent drop.
Comesa sugar supplies keep prices lowGOD BLESS YOUR LIFE