National Milling Corporation NMC has announced price reductions in its mealie meal products. NMC has reduced the price of roller meal by K5,500 price and breakfast mealie meal by K2,500 in Lusaka.
The price of National Milling mealie meal is however expected to remain slightly higher for consumers in far flung areas due to the transportation costs. The price of mealie meal for the Copperbelt has been pegged at K32, 000 and K59,500 roller and breakfast mealie meal respectively.
The price reductions are with effect from tomorrow, 2nd June 2010. NMC managing director, Peter Cottan told journalist during a press briefing in Lusaka today that his company has not been able to reduce mealie meal as per government directive because they still had 15, 000 tonnes of old maize stocks and will only commerce buying the new maize today, 1st June.
Mr Cottan explains that NMC always stocks up maize to last the company up to June the following year. Meanwhile, Mr Cottan has disclosed that he has already sent a team of NMC experts to source which markets they could easily offload its stock following the bumper harvest that the country has recorded in this year.
He however says Zambia will have to be very competitive in all its trade exports of maize because the South African maize traders Also fighting for the same market.
And Mr Cottan has recommended the k65,000 per 50kg bag of maize set by the Food Reserve Agency FRA and has challenges farmers to take advantage of this opportunity.
QFM
What a coup for a ‘failing’ govt. Is this the trickle down effect beginning to materialise? This is definitely going to mean ‘more money in people’s pockets’.
what a joke! 5pin reduction only ?…translating into one single dollar ??? and you say theres a bumper harvest???bumper harvest my a.s.s !
Stop and ban the expotation of our maize ,thereby you will satisfy the simple law of demand & supply(when supply is high,prices are pushed down).
#2 Typical Kaponya reaction shooting from your back side without even thinking. The reduction K5pin on Roller Meal reduction corresponds to 15 % and that is a figure well above inflation and bear in mind that civil servants salaries grew by 15% if you compound these numbers you will see how this is a good development and good for our people.
If you have nothing to comment just keep quiet. Am sure one of you fellow Kaponya will come on this site and start screaming VJ has started rigging 2011 polls by using his new strategy. I wonder why you Kaponya are suspicious of everything good.
#2 Sometimes it is more prudent to export the maize if the market price is good. Storing of grain can be an expensive undertaking which can result in the damage of the crop in question. For example, now that we have recorded such a high harvest, do we have the facilities and expertise to ensure that the stored maize retains it’s fitness for consumption?
#4 Good point. The MMD policy is to make our economy agriculture driven, hence the change in policy on subsidizing farmers,. People have to bear in mind that this bumper harvest did not come from nowhere. It was well planned and crafted by the great minds in our party and since we subsidized the input, FRA has acquired the money to buy all the maize at the floor price announced and yes we shall export some at a higher price so that we earn more FOREX to be able to subsidize more farmers for next year’s season and repeat the cycle till we make Zambia the bread basket of Southern Africa.
We just hope that this subsidy will not in future become an issue in WTO circles because the issue of subsidizing farmers is one of the sticking point in WTO talks. Fingers crossed anyway.
Poor reporting by LT. In the last paragraph am sure they meant to say….Mr Cottan has commended the k65,000 per 50kg bag of maize set by the Food Reserve Agency FRA and has challenged farmers to take advantage of this opportunity.
And comment 3 Bootlicker, stop talking about the 15 percent salary increment awarded to Govt workers. This has already been eroded by the 13 percent increment in fuel and related products.And you talk about inflation. The benefits of the single digit inflation are only imagined on paper.
yipee lets all jump for joy!!!!! :-w8-|
Iwe umuwelewele MMD Chief Bootlicker don’t you know that your top WTO pleading partners Canada, USA, Japan, even the UK heavily subsides eg Transport, in Canada the dairy industry is the best in the world because of a guaranteed price by the government! That is why they (Western world) would rather spill the butter lakes into the Atlantic Ocean than give your fellow MMD Bootlickers to stabilise the price (again unlike you fellow bootlickers!!
I am also surprised that you don’t understand the grain industry? In fact the bumper is mostly for export because it is grown by commercial farmers who have contracts to meet! Do you live in Zambia? Please read the Post, Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail to get a feel of things in Zambia. Its *****s like you we need to rehabilitate come 17th…
The main issue here is that the price has come down. This is in part to the policies adopted by the present administration. We should all laud them in their achievement. This is not to say that we we should support them blindly but at least we should give credit where it is due. I hope that whatever administration comes into power 2011, this issue of subsidised inputs will be retained for the foreseeable future.
#8 I guess you agree with me on the WTO subsidies. Yes the western subsidize their farmers and developing countries, Zambia included have been capaigning that the west stop subsidizing their farmers and that is ONE of the reasons that has stalled talks in the WTO. Now in Zambia we plan to subsidize our farmers in a big way , don’t you see the contradiction and the point am trying to market.
On your second point, sorry Bwana, you are wrong. We don’t have a futures market in Zambia, although this will be the way to go so that before a farmer can plant a seed in the ground he already has a contract signed to supply maize. Most of the maize produced will be bought by FRA at the government announced floor price.
Chief Boot licker ulichipuba(a big *****),fuel was increased recently and you are talking of 15% higher than inflation.what a cheap fool you are,by the way,stop calling yourself a chief bootlicker,instead call yourself chief MMD Chief Asslicker,cause thats what you are.How much do civil servants get for you to be excited about 15 percent increment.just cause you lick other peoples Asses to get paid does not mean that everyone is a dirt as you are.
# 8. true to your word. commodity prices today are -$220 per mt maize into mill: $300 per mt soya into mill. You can see that FRA price has little telling on the market. Millers are not buying and we have in excess of over a million tons of maize after FRA projected purchase of 200,000mts. Guyz this is a funny year and watch the space, maize will trade below the $200/mt threshold. 60% of 2010 season maize is comming from small scale maize 40% commercial of which 15% was under pivot and has a high carry cost. The answer is to export but where?. Congo is harvesting maize now and Zim’s trading platform is very uneven with high risks options. WFP?. They would not award you a contract at over $240 delv. Zim. FOR GOD”S SAKE BUILD UP AN ETHANOL PLANT. You can burn maize and extract ethanol
# 11 OBAMA, Can’t you just make your point without insulting me or resorting to ad hominems? Look at how #12 excellently makes his case without insulting anybody. What is wrong with that? We are here to educate each other and nobody has copyright to knowledge and we can learn from each other and I have just learnt something from #12. Anyway I wont even bother to reply to you till you clean up your Kaponya language, or rather till you expand your limited vocabulary. I know you are trying hard to lower the bar even further for your fellow Kabovas to come in.
Bootlicker, i think try to analyse issues seriously. you do not seem to know what is happening in Zambia. who told you FRA will buy most of the maize at the floor price?. you are dreaming. the country produced 2.7million tons plus a carry over of 200,000mts. our consumption is 1.6milliom mts now. FRA has enough money to buy only 200,000mt, what is the source of your info. i think you are lost. why buy maize and store when we have stock which can take you up to next harvest next year?. debate sensibly.
Felicitations NMC. Well-done.
#14 I did not say FRA will buy ALL maize. I said MOST of it and here is my source from Zambia Daily Mail last week
FRA finds $150m for maize
MINISTER of Agriculture and Co-operatives Peter Daka says the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has sourced US$150 million for the purchase of maize in the current crop marketing season.
Mr Daka said in an interview yesterday that the FRA decided to privately source funds because the money that Government has allocated to the agency is not enough to purchase all the maize stock.
….
“FRA has secured US$150 million from private sources to ensure that it purchases more maize from farmers, especially those in outlying areas.
He said Government cannot manage to buy all the maize that is available and is encouraging PPP…
you piece of shit MMD Chief Bootlicker.
you piece of s.h.i.t MMD Chief Bootlicker.
#17 DMX shallow mind suffering from vocabulary deficiency. You can take adult classes, you know. It is not late. Am sure there is night school or online school you can enroll in to beef up your vocabulary.
I have to go to work, happy blogging till Friday when I will do my last blogging from South Africa. Am being re-deployed to elsewhere, wherever I go will continue blogging in defence of our great country and great party MMD as we stay in power till 2091 to clock a century of party rule and enter the history books in particular Guinness Book of world record for a party being in power for 100 straight solid years.
This bumper harvest just means we will exports more maize this year than last year.The only people that will benefit are those that are involved in the export of maize. The only people celebrating are the farmers, traders and millers. As long as the cost of production and transportation remains high or continues to rise it the pointless to talk about it as the price of ubunga will remain high or increase.
#CTD from 19 , Oh I forgot to add. ..Get used to that idea of being under MMD rule for the rest of your life. The earlier you get used to that thought, the happier you will be for the rest of your life.
Bye Bye till Friday
I don’t know how these prices of our main staple food are arrived at. However everything possible should be done to reduce these prices even further to make the commodity fairly affordable by the poorest of the poor. Mealie meal is not an import.
wah-bay-tall-lay iwe chi MMD a.s.s. licker….wanya 2011 no more sponsorship for you together with chi Senior crap!
D.a.m.n shit, u moron….a clown for that matter a black one lol. MMD Chief Bootlicker
I agree with u number 22,its just poor policies in place and weak govt controls(neglect of NitroChem of Zed) coupled with greediness on the millers part(hoarding stocks)….I equally fail to understand Y price yakabunga should be that high.staple food zoona?
MMD Chief Bootlicker if bloggers could beat down somebody over the net, you surely would be dead by now…IYE:-s
hell yeah # 24 DMX blast the moron! shoot his a.s.s…kick his babybags!
guyz this is crazy. we do not have to loose tempers on net. i can imagine if we all had to meet in person. cool off please!
iwe chief bootlicker,have you taken a simple survey to see (check) how many bloggers are disgusted with your bosses?its not a case of “going with the masses” NO,its just that pipo want change.Remember the wind of change that swept zed in 1991?its back,u also have to live with this fact!
I think MMD Chief Bootlicker needs brain development because the Pact is wining come next year elections.
I am MMD by the way. Our party is divided and we are constantly fighting each other. we need a convention asap and choose new leadership.
Jerabo wasap my man!pa C/B pali shani bakaamba?mwela onse ayini ze bigge?
so sad to see pipo still following MMD when everyone has their eyes open!
What do you call a woman in heaven?
John: An angel!
A crowd of women in heaven?
John: A host of angels!
All the women in heaven?
John: PEACE ON EARTH
If we are honest, we have to admit that this is an important development for next year. This will affect the vast majority of the people in the country. Will there be another price cut in the coming months? What impact might it have in the 2011 elections.
considering that most families in Zambia survive on $1.00 USD a day, and the cost of a bag of mealie meal is about $ 12.00 USD so this gives an average family 18 days without mealie meal. yet we go and sing praises that we have a bumper harvest and yet our own pipo are staying half the month withoout that which our govt is saying is in abundance
inflation is going to dip to 8% i tell you. I suspect mealie meal will go down further in the coming months due to competition from millers.
kupanga fye ka garden ka bondwe ninshi ya balancer bakamba
#35 i think ibange nalikukola. i dont know what kind of maths is that.
#35 Nanga do you have to buy a bag of mealie- meal everyday? What impact will this have on the rural areas?
hey my friend number 35,wat analysis is that?listen,wen they say some pipo are living on a dollar-a-day ,it means all their food needs are met in that $1…for example :
a small packet of mealimeal (pamela) ……. K1,000
cooking oil ………K500
small dry fish(chisense) ………K1000
TOTAL K2,500
then the process is repeated at supper and total spent on food / day comes to K5,000 which is only $1.
zoona iwe nalikukola ibange….so your “average” family can finish a bag of mealimeal in 12days?since you are assuming they will go hungry for the remaining 18days (12 + 18 = 30days) !and can they just eat ubunga without ndiyo?
my friend practice wat you preach by sticking to your blogging name “ibange libi”…. it will save you!
Slashed??? 😮 more like skimmed!!
Ba mwisho
You are horribly wrong. Banning the exportation go maize will bring about catastrophic consequences to Zambia’s food security in the long run. The Finance Minister stated at one time that Zambia’s market is too small hence the justification of exporting some of the grain surplus to nations with shortages.
Farmers need a livelihood and an incentive to grow more maize. If they are getting a lower price for their maize, they will not grow more maize the next year. They’ll grow something else like Wheat if they can get a better price than what they got for maize. Life works with incentives and in this case, a good maize price is an incentive to grow more maize the next year.
Let us also not forget the maize export will add FOREX in our reserves.
Ati how iwe!! how are u doing?
Chief Bootlicker I applaud your maturity.
two years ago the price of mealie meal was less than K40,000. now its over K50,000. My question is if you take 4 steps forward and 1 step backwards, are you making progress or are you going backwards?
Thanks Esther Phiri for winning. NMC as your sponsor got excited and made the announcement by mistake
#39. n’ga tomato ne cili banze? kapoli ewe, mulekwata amano. its because of people like you that we have the MMD.
Esther Phiri’s driven economics ,bumper harvest my a.. pardon i wonder how some of you can stomach the mediocrity debate by one Warrant Officer MMD S..t licker !!:d/
This guy has been overcharging us and this reduction(which) is nothing must be treated with some suspicion. Just wait and you will see another reason(excuse)come out very shortly.
It is sad that when a positive move that will benefit every Zambian has been made, other fellow Zambians can still criticise the move. The reduction of mealie meal prices does not benefit Corton or any other politician SATA inclussive, but it benefits a common Zambian who unlike the bloggers on this site, stragles to make a living.
NMC should be conglatulated and all our farmers including me who never buys mealie meal must be thanked. More importantly the goverment for coming up with workable policies that have seen food security in our nation. Zamtel workers once gumbled with thier UNION leadership and said they wanted change at all cost, today if you ask any Zamtel worker how that change has benefited them, Its a pitty they cant reverse what has happened.
Bootlicker, I want to know the secret of your humbleness.With all the insults bloggers shower you,you simply turn the other cheek.Oh what rarerity.
#39 that is the reality in zed that most people have to live with, it is pathetic and most people will not feel the reduction by the esther phiri sponsors.where the hell do you think one who lives by $1 a day get $12 to get a bag of mealie meal? yalikosaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
muntu anikonde…:>
# 50KING COBRA – Here at home we know why we are skeptical about this man’s manouvres. Just wait and you will hear a lot of stories.
MMD Bootlicker has the support of GRZ & My MOb the rest of you are just ignorant naive former Zambians so your opinions compare to that of my dog shitting. Disgusting. MMD continues to run u