The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has increased the price of a 10kg bag of roller meal by 52 per cent and the price of a tonne of wheat bread flour has been hiked by 32 per cent.
In a statement, GMAZ chairman Tafadzwa Musarara said the price increases came after the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) increased the price of maize and wheat. Reads the statement:
With effect from Monday 11 April 2022, the price of grain from Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to Millers went up.
Commercial white maize price increased by 50% to ZWD75,000 per metric tonne from ZWD 50,000 per metric tonne.
Wheat rose by 17.8% to ZWD 66,000.00 per metric tonne from ZWD56,000 per metric ton.
These increments are substantial and millers cannot absorb them. At its urgent virtual meeting on yesterday, the GMAZ Secretariat reported the following price movements;
a) 10 kg Roller Meal to increase by 52% to ZWD1, 665.00 from ZWD1,099.00
b) 1 tone of Wheat Bread flour to increase by 31% to ZWD 215,000 from ZWD 164,523 per metric tonne
These price increments are with immediate effect. However, individual millers and wholesale/retailers are free to negotiate price discounts.
The costs of packaging, labour, transport, electricity and imported wheat continue to militate against price stabilization efforts.
We assure the consuming public that our scientific computation model remains reasonable and justified and we have been restrained in our cost accumulation.
The milling industry remains most indebted to the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance and Industry for the ongoing engagements which are aimed at achieving affordability and availability of our products.
The subsisting global food inflation crisis is causing serious headwinds, and Zimbabwe is not spared.
Similar price increases in Maize Meal and Bread flour are also being experienced in other regional countries such as Botswana, South Africa et al.