Data from the Sugar Directorate shows stocks held by millers as at April 6 was 22,492 tonnes.
This is way beyond the regulatory minimum of 9,000 tonnes, with some millers registering zero sales in some days.
The country imported over 900,000 tonnes between May and December last year as Kenya opened duty-free window to allow shipments from outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).
An influx of sugar into the country last year has hit local millers hard, with stocks of the commodity now rising to a five-year high.
This has put factories in a precarious financial situation, with data from the Sugar Directorate showing stocks held by millers as at April 6 was 22,492 tonnes.
This is way beyond the regulatory minimum of 9,000 tonnes, with some millers registering zero sales in some days.
The directorate is required to regulate imports of the commodity. But the gazette notice that was issued by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich last year allowed firms to bring in unspecified quantities.
The report indicates that on April 6, 11 millers managed to sell a paltry 1,598 tonnes of sugar, highlighting the negative impact of cheap unregulated sweetener in the country.
“The stocks of sugar have been growing and this is attributed to the unregulated sugar that was allowed into the country last year,” said the directorate.
Distributors who normally buy the commodity from factories prefer to buy it from traders who are still holding huge volumes of cheap sugar.
The country imported over 900,000 tonnes between May and December last year as Kenya opened duty-free window to allow shipments from outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).
The Treasury scrapped duty on the commodity last year following a sharp decline in local production that saw the price of sugar go up to Sh400 per two kilo packet.
The directorate has been forced to control imports to protect local millers.
Sugar imports in the month of January dropped 73 per compared with the same period last year on account of strict issuance of license to importers.
Market report from the Sugar Directorate indicates the volume of imports dropped to 9,907 tonnes in the period under review compared to 35,170 last year.
Normally, Kenya is allowed to import 350,000 tonnes of sugar annually from Comesa, which is spread across the year at about 30,000 tonnes monthly.
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