A STUDY conducted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Britain’s independent think tank, has revealed that the domestic price of Zambian sugar is very high compared to other producing nations in the developing world, which impacts negatively on consumers.
But Zambia Sugar Plc marketing director Rebecca Katowa said the retail price of sugar in Zambia is a general reflection of cost of doing business.
ODI programme leader for business and development Karen Ellis said independent statistics showed that Zambia has one of the lowest sugar production costs in the world, at US$169 a tonne compared to the world average for sugar producing nations which is currently at US$263 a tonne.
Ms Ellis said at a workshop on measuring economic impact of competition in Zambia that the production of sugar in Zambia is highly efficient.
She said over 60 percent of total sugar produced in 2007 was exported because production costs were internationally competitive.
“The European Union is an attractive market for many efficient African Caribbean Pacific sugar producing countries such as Zambia, because the EU price is significantly higher than their production costs,” she said.
Ms Ellis said despite some new entrants in the market in the last decade, one firm dominates the production of sugar in Zambia with a 93 percent share.
She said the Zambian market is protected from external competition by non-tariff import barriers.
“The requirement for potential sugar importers to obtain import permits through a bureaucratic and non-transparent process was cited by some as one kind of barrier,” she said.
Zambian requirement are that all sugar sold on the local market must be vitamin A fortified.
Ms Ellis said many stakeholders outside Government and the sugar industry consider fortification to be a mechanism for protecting the local sugar market from competition.
She said the sugar industry contributes considerable tax revenue to Government, adding that the industry in 2007 contributed about US$7.9 million of corporate tax on profits.
Reacting to the finding, Mrs Katowa said the company‘s production cost a tonne was higher at US$504 than the projected US$169.
She also said the company is faced with high distribution costs but they ensure the price of sugar in Zambia is uniform despite paying 16 percent value added tax, from which other sugar producing nations are exempt.
“Zambia is a high cost producer in terms of structure. We have embarked on the expansion programme aimed to grow our business and reduce the cost of sugar.
“Zambia Sugar may be a dominant player in the market, but we don’t have the monopoly in people’s pockets,” she said.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Imwe sure bwezani mutengo
just reduce the price you have been exposed
How much is 2kg & 1kg sugar in Zambia this time?
Ya they gotta reduce the price.I remember the old school days when we would survive on sucrose(zikolo) in tough times after blowing away the grocery money .Ha ha ha i guess now it is more expensive to do that.:)>-
Mrs Katowa pliz stop lying.What cost of production are you talking about? a 2kg sugar is at K12,000.00 which is exorbitant.All agriculture imports are duty free now which cost of production are you talking about? You have the 3 major resources just here in zambia Land,human resource and Capital.You know that your sugar is way too expensive out of greed.What social responsibility does Zambia Sugar PLC do in Mazabuka despite the pollution,nothing.You are ok because you stay in Kafue so does your cooperate affairs manager who drives from Makeni
Female workers are female workers because they are female.
Male workers are male workers because they are male.
White farmers are white farmers because they are white.
Black farmers are black farmers because they are black.
here in mangalande 2kg is 59p which translates to 4 pin in z, whats happening with the sugar companies?
#3 You are right some of us survived on zikolo we will deep bread or ama buns for lunch and thats why we are tough core not this patriotic MMD chief bootlicker, senior citizen surviving on tax payers money
Yeah # 7 you are right no wonder we are very tough tested.We have gone through thick and thin to reach this stage.No wonder we dont need to be lupiya banda dancing cadres to survive. life has taught us some survival skills.:)>-
Zambia Plc is very dishonest. It floods the Zambian market with rubbish and substandard sugar which is abnormally over-priced. The Sugar we get from Zambia sugar is not fit for human consumption but for cattle. The refined sugar is exported to other countries and money earned is never returned to Zambia but is used to develop other countries. This is what privatisation does. RB and his henchmen think the refined white sugar they are given by Zambia sugar Plc is the exact type everyone else gets in Zambia. That is what corruption does. It blinds people and people stop thinking. These cheap politicians we have think refined white sugar is their preserve alone and that is why they are ever boasting about useless things. Why should it take outsiders to remind them that sugar is expensive?.
Hey u pipo u nid 2 reduce th price coz sum of us cant do without sugar.ineed y shud it take outsiders to tok for us,sugar is 2 expensive in our country.:o
Gee, no wonder my cousins in Chipata jump the border in order to smuggle sugar from Malawi. It makes sense.
Zambiasugar employees are least paid in Zambia, so where do these so called investors take our money? Our government, can you truelly say you are working? nay!
How stupid is this,a foreigner comes in and tells us our prices for sugar are too high
and our own zambian citizen says its fine.am i missing something??
I am a sugar broker – I can supply refined A grade sugar to Zambia at an exceptional price for all the people in that country, that is cheaper than Zambia Sugar..It comes in huge tonnage, so if any wholesaler/trader is keen to do business and pass on the pricing to the people – you can contact me Leeanne 0825617521. the minimum required amount to bring into country is 12500 tonne, and it lands at ASWP.