Uganda Sugar Exports Stymied by Wars, Regional Trade Barriers
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
Ugandan sugar processors are holding 50,000 metric tons of unsold
stock as exporters of the sweetener face obstacles in East African
markets ranging from wars to duties, the head of the industry
association said.
"We are stuck with big volumes of sugar," Uganda Sugar Manufacturers'
Association
Chairman Jim Kabeho said on July 11 by phone. "This is affecting our
expansion programs. We are threatened with closure."
Efforts to market sugar in Rwanda are hampered by the abundance of
cheaper imports from outside East Africa, while exporters to Kenya
face barriers such as duties and red tape, said Kabeho. Conflicts in
South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have also curbed
the trade, he said.
Uganda is set to produce a surplus of sugar this year, according to
the association. Production will climb to 442,500 tons, up from
334,040 tons last year. Domestic demand is about 320,000 tons
annually. The landlocked nation usually imports sugar from India and
Brazil and exports to nations that border it: Rwanda, Kenya, South
Sudan and Congo.
Uganda belongs to the five-nation East African Community common
market, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The EAC
this year gave Rwanda a six-month extension to import duty-free sugar
from outside the region to address supply shortages, the Nairobi-based
East African newspaper reported in January, citing Rwandan Trade
Minister Francois Kanimba.
Export Markets
"Opening up export markets is the major problem at the moment
especially to the EAC partner states like Rwanda and Kenya,"
Wilberforce Mubiru, the association's secretariat manager, said in an
e-mailed response to questions. "Exports to the EU are almost
impossible at the moment due to a large supply of sugar on the world
market from India, Brazil, etc."
Members of Uganda's manufacturing association include Kakira Sugar
Works Ltd., owned by the Madhvani Group of Uganda, and Mauritius-based
Rai Group's Kinyara Sugar Ltd. Others include Sugar Corporation of
Uganda Ltd., owned by the India-based Mehta Group, and Kaliro Sugar
Ltd., part of Alam Group of Uganda. Kabeho declined to give this
year's sales figures.
Cyprian Batala, Uganda's assistant commissioner in the Trade Ministry
in charge of the sugar industry, declined to comment by phone.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at
fojambo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at
asguazzin@bloomberg.net Sarah McGregor, Sharon Lindores
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