Sugar now disappears from shelves as supply uncertainty kicks in
Dar es Salaam. Table sugar is now the new gold.
The sweetener has been in short supply for over two weeks now and fear for a fully blown out crisis in supply was growing among consumers.
The commodity’s price has spiked, with a kilo still fetching up to Sh5000 in some suburbs, as some profiteers took advantage to make some coin from dwindling stocks.
The government’s indicative price for a kilo of sugar is between Sh2600 in Dar es Salaam to Sh3200 in far off places. The sugar board of Tanzania recently warned it would crackdown on traders it accused of hoarding the commodity.
But even with the high price, availability of sugar was largely a problem for most parts of Dar es Salaam and other major cities surveyed. Supermarkets and many shops run out of stock and it took painstaking rounds of searching to get a kilo or two in the suburbs for mostly between Sh3500 and Sh4000 a kilo.
Wholesalers and retailers admitted they were running out of stocks and warned things will likely deteriorate if expected sugar imports did not arrive this week. The sugar board director general, Prof Kenneth Bengesi, indicated two weeks ago that the country expected to receive more than 20,000 tonnes of sugar imports from India and Thailand by last week.
It was unclear if the stocks had arrived but wholesalers interviewed on condition of anonymity told The Citizen their suppliers, who are the main agents of local sugar manufacturers, told them they were still uncertain when the expected deliveries would arrive.
The shortage concern prompted Kibaha district commissioner Assumpta Mshana to call for calm among residents, saying Kagera and Mtibwa sugar companies had assured her that imports were on the way. She issued the appeal in a recorded video clip that has been circulated among whatsapp groups.
According to the DC, officials of the firms said they had been a delay in placing orders for imports because of the Covid-19 pandemic and also because the sugar board issued import permits late. Ms Mshana noted that the panacea to the problem would be to raise local production to cover for the deficit.
The country’s four factories of Kagera Sugar, Kilombero Sugar, Mtibwa Sugar Estates and TPC produce an estimated 360,000 tonnes of sugar annually against a domestic demand of about 670,000 tonnes. They fill the deficit through imports approved by the sugar board.
The factories have currently closed for maintenance and due to the rainy season and are expected to resume business by next month.
The manufacturers have not escaped blame for the spiking in prices, with wholesalers and retailers arguing they were using the window to make huge profits by selling the imports for Sh150,000 per 50kgs bag of sugar instead of Sh110,000 maximum.
“It the manufacturers are left to determine the price at which they are selling the imports it is impossible for the government to control the retail price. It is likely the manufacturers will use the shortage excuse to raise their own prices for the locally manufactured sugar when they resume operations,” a sugar trader in Dar es Salaam said.
A market survey revealed mixed fortunes for consumers around the country. At various supermarkets around Dar including Game, Shoppers and Mr Price shelves were empty since this week started. Some of sellers said the sugar is not available.
At Pemba Street in Kariakoo, most customers claim sugar is sold in small quantities only. A check at several grocery kiosks revealed that only limited sugar had been on sale for over a week. Some traders have removed their stocks for fear of being arrested over the price. They said they cannot sell the product for a loss.
Daudi, a shopkeeper along Pemba Street said those who used to sell him sugar told him that there was no stock. “Someone just sold me only 10kgs of sugar this week. You go to any neighbouring shop, there’s no sugar,” Daudi said, adding that he is now selling a kilogram of sugar at Sh4000.
One wholesale in Tegeta Nyuki Juma Musa said a 50kg bag is currently sold between Sh150,000 and Sh160,000 and one would be lucky to get supplies. At Survey in Mwenge, the sugar was only available in one retail shop which sold at Sh5000, said Ms Neema Mlai. She said the government was not serious in solving the problem.
A lucky shopper said she bought sugar for Sh2600 a kilo in Namanga Msasani are, but only after agreeing to buy more groceries from the shop.
The same story was in Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Tanga. There was no sugar in Moshi town. Some families are now using honey as a substitute even though they said the price of honey was too high to afford if nothing is done to get the sugar back in the shelves.
