Posted on August, 28, 2018 at 10:55 am
By Halili Letea
Dar es Salaam. Consumers should expect to dig deeper into their pockets to buy rice, following a trend of increasing wholesale prices of the commodity’s in various city markets
Traders who spoke to The Citizen said the slight continuous increase in the price is a result of decreasing supply of rice from the country’s main producing areas.
Retail prices for the lowest grade of rice fell to Sh1,000 per kilo in July this year, the lowest level. But the prices started to go up this week and ranged between Sh1,500 and Sh2,000 depending on the grade.
A Survey carried out by The Citizen in different city markets found that the wholesale price for different grades of rice increased to between Sh125,000 and Sh200,000 per 100-kilo bag on Monday this week from between Sh120,000 and Sh180,000 recorded on July 22.
However, the current wholesale prices are still lower than the Sh160,000 and Sh220,000 per 100-kilo recorded in early April, this year.
Wholesalers attributed the price increase to a high demand and marginal fall in supply resulting from the end of the harvest season in various source regions. Temeke Grains Agency (TGA) director Peter Sospeter said the volume of rice they were receiving currently was low although the demand remained high, thereby attracting a price increase.
“I receive up to 200 bags of rice per day from nearly 300 bags in the past as harvests have ended in various regions,” said Mr Kato who manages more than 41 stores in Temeke-Double Cabin area.
The ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment indicated that Kigoma residents were experiencing the lowest prices of Sh120,000 and Sh135,000 per 100-kilo bag of rice on August 20, this year, while higher prices of Sh160,000 and Sh200,000 were recorded in Arusha.
Source: The Citizen