Posted on January, 31, 2017 at 11:20 am
Prices of maize, rice and beans stabilised in Dar es Salaam and some other major urban centres in the country in the first two weeks of this month after a peak in demand during December festive season.
The Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) market analysis report shows that the wholesale price of maize remained stable in Dar es Salaam and Arusha in the week ending January 20 compared to the previous month.
In Dar es Salaam and Arusha a metric tonne of maize sold at Sh785,400 and Sh768,600 respectively. In Iringa, a tonne of maize increased from Sh617,400 in the week ending December 13 to Sh690,900 in the week ending January 20.
“Recent reports indicate that short rain crops performed poorly. Therefore, prices are expected to increase in the coming weeks, but they
will stabilise with the ban on grain export,” the EAGC’s Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network (Ratin) report reads in part.
The prices of beans, on the other hand, remained unchanged in the period under review in Dar es Salaam and Iringa while Arusha saw a marginal decrease. The price of the commodity is expected to increase as learning institutions, which use it as a staple, open. A tonne of beans sold at Sh1.73 million and Sh1.77 million in Dar es Salaam and Iringa respectively.
In Arusha, the price of a metric tonne of beans decreased from Sh1.82 million to Sh1.77 million.
The wholesale prices of rice that had peaked during the December festive season eased off slightly in January, according to the Ratin report.
A metric tonne of rice declined from Sh1,965,600 in the week ending December 13 to Sh1,770,300 in the week ending January 23.
Prices also declined in Iringa to Sh1,438,500 from Sh1,455,300 in the similar period.
In Arusha, the wholesale prices remained unchanged at Sh1,577,100. “This is indicative of adequate supplies to the markets. The price of rice is expected to go down in the coming weeks due to export ban of the commodity,” the Ratin report reads in part.
Source: The Citizen