Traders face supply crunch as arrival of ships cancelled

Thousands of businesses face a shortage of supplies after more than three dozen ships cancelled arrivals at the port of Mombasa with the fate of 102 others remaining unknown following the outbreak of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection.

The supply crunch is likely to lead to higher cost of goods for Kenyans, who are already bracing for an economic hit due to measures taken to limit the spread of the disease locally.

Kenya Ports Authority managing director Daniel Manduku said in an interview that apart from cancellation of the ships, a number of vessels which made call at the port last month reported blank arrivals affecting cargo numbers at the port, a situation he described as the “the worst ever” for the port.

“We have so far seen our business negatively disrupted following the cancellation of 37 ships scheduled to make call in March while fate of 104 others remain uncertain,” he said.

The bulk of Kenya’s imports come in through the port of Mombasa — goods such as electronics, industrial raw materials and machinery, household items and bulk food imports.

Since its outbreak in China three months ago, essential supplies for East African businesses, especially small and medium enterprises have been cut off, leaving them fighting to stay afloat.

Last week, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance released a report which showed that 61 per cent of businesses have felt the impact of the Covid-19 on their operations, with many of them scaling down operation or headed for closure, a doom for the economy.

Top retailers, including Naivas and Tuskys, warned earlier this month that the prices of consumer goods such as clothing, furniture, mobile phones, TVs and fridges will rise before the end of the month due to the supply chain disruption.

The retailers, who had shipped in goods in bulk ahead of the Chinese New Year in January, said they would start to run out of goods from China after three weeks.

Kenya imports a wide range of goods from China with electronics like mobile phones topping shipment orders that also include clothing, kitchen ware, furniture, machinery, optical and medical equipment.

“We expect the prices of key commodities especially electronics, clothing and toys to rise because of supply hitches and the fact that we are sourcing from more expensive markets,” said Naivas chief commercial officer Willy Kimani.

The negative effects locally are not only expected to hit businesses, but also transporters who now face loss of business as volume of goods dwindles.

“The business loss has been negatively felt down the supply chain, with the standard gauge railway also affected,” said Dr Manduku.