NCPB says millers have bought 600,000 bags out of a million that the state released to supplement the available stocks.
The government is selling a 90 kilogramme bag of maize at Sh3,000 per bag.
This is lower than the Sh3,800 that the same quantity retails at in Eldoret, Sh4,000 in Nakuru and Sh4,500 in Nairobi, according to the agriculture ministry.
Maize millers have only purchased 60 per cent of cheap grains the government released in early April to curb the soaring price of flour that is trading at record high.
The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) says millers have bought 600,000 bags out of a million that the state released to supplement the available stocks in the market to cool the runaway price of flour.
The release of the cheaper maize from the board was aimed at curbing runaway flour prices that rose to Sh153 in early April before retreating to Sh134. The flour cost less than Sh100 a year ago.
“The millers have so far purchased 600,000 out of the one million bags of maize from our stores countrywide,” said NCPB managing director Newton Terer.
“The large scale millers have bought the produce in bulk at our Eldoret and Moi’s bridge depots while their small scale counterparts purchase the crop in bags from the rest of the depots,” said Mr Terer on phone yesterday.
The government is selling a 90 kilogramme bag of maize at Sh3,000 per bag, which is lower than the Sh3,800 that the same quantity retails at in Eldoret, Sh4,000 in Nakuru and Sh4,500 in Nairobi, according to the agriculture ministry.
Most millers reckon that the cost of transporting the maize from the NCPB depots to their plants has slowed the purchase of the cheaper state maize.
“The high transport cost is making it difficult for some millers to relocate the produce especially from Western Kenya region to milling plants in Nairobi and beyond. This adds to increased cost of flour,” said Mr Simon Kimeli, a private miller in Eldoret.
The high prices of maize, which is the country’s staple food, has pushed inflation to 11.48 per cent in April from 10.28 in March, pushing the cost of living measure to a 57-month high.
Food takes up the largest share (36 per cent) of the basket of goods that is used to calculate inflation, making it the main driver of the cost of living.
Sugar, maize flour, beans and Sukuma Wiki have increased 21.6 per cent, 31.2 per cent, 21.3 per cent and 63.2 per cent respectively.
“The increase in food prices was partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions. The year on year food inflation stood at 20.98 per cent in April 2017,” said Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Sugar, maize flour, beans and Sukuma Wiki have increased 21.6 per cent, 31.2 per cent, 21.3 per cent and 63.2 per cent respectively over the past year.
Traders are holding stocks of maize that are enough to last the country for one month in anticipation of high future prices.
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