First duty-free maize imports to dock at the port on Sunday in Kenya

The first consignment of cheap maize will arrive in the country on March 12, signalling relief to consumers who are currently grappling with the high cost of the staple on the shelves. The ship carrying 42,464 tonnes of maize from the Port of Odesa in Ukraine will mark the first consignment to have arrived in the country since the authorisation of duty-free imports a month ago. Read: Duty-free maize imports call attracts 250 traders Millers say the imports will only lower the price if the ships carrying maize consignments will be docking at the port at least every week. “If there will be more coming every week then it will help to address the current high prices of flour. The cost will also depend on the price at which they are landing in Mombasa,” said Ken Nyaga, chairman United Grain Millers Association. The price of flour has shot to Sh200 for a two-kilogramme packet in the last one week from Sh180 on the back of a sharp rise in the cost of maize, which now stands at Sh6,100 ...