There has been regulated supply of maize to the market in general. Maize grain major markets registered different trends. Kampala received plenty of maize at the opening of the week and the supply rendered the market price stable at Ugx.930/kg. Apparently, the maize flour price is still high at Ugx.93, 000-95,000 per 50kg sack wholesale price Kampala. Other markets had their flour price at the same price or slightly higher. Traders, however, noted that there was plenty of maize from the local production areas and that the market price was expected lower if the regional demand markets at Busia and Mutukula reduced their requirements.
Uniquely, Kampala market received plenty of Simsim rendering the market price low at Ugx.3600-3800/kg at wholesale in Owino market.
At the regional border post market of Busia, demand for maize declined and according to the transit traders, the Kenyan grain price for unsorted quality was lower than the Ugandan selling price at this market. The maize price declined from Ksh.29/kg to Ksh.27/kg for good quality maize. Some harvesting was reported around Ukamba region and is expected to have caused the decline of maize price West of Kenya. Only an estimated 400MT of maize grain was registered crossing on a daily basis down from 1500MT a fortnight ago.
In the local production markets such as Kyankwanzi and Kiboga, maize was offered at Ugx.800-850/kg. It was much cheaper in Masindi where farmers offered their crop at Ugx.700/kg in a rush presumed to be a process in search for school fees. Mubende, similarly, registered maize at Ugx.900/kg mainly because there were several transit traders demanding for maize destined for Mutukula Uganda and Tanzania border post.
In Kamwenge, maize grain trading was getting started and it was noted that the quality was not good because the quality was mixed up and had high moisture content. The price, however, was recorded increasing from Ugx.800/kg to Ugx.850-870/kg depending on quality especially for traders who operate Mutukula route. The presence of rainfall in most of these production locations has affected the quality of maize. On an average, 30 trucks were loaded out of Kamwenge daily destined for Mutukula Tanzania.
Grain trading at Mutukula was recorded faster than usual. A number of traders turned up in search for maize. They offered to buy good quality maize at a higher price compared to that of unsorted grain. Unsorted maize was bought at Ugx. 950-1000/kg.
In Arua, the supply of maize was low. A kilo was bought at Ugx.1100-1200/kg. Supply was registered from Masindi Kiryandongo.
The market in general received less beans due to the off-season nature currently. In Busia, Yellow beans were preferred at Ksh.102/kg (Ugx.3692) while Nambale at Ksh.75/kg (Ugx.2715). The beans price was very stable. The variable factor was forex rate for the day. Sugar beans (Masavu) were received at Busia market at Ksh.96/kg (Ugx.3475) from Rwanda. Rosecoco beans were offered at Ksh.80/kg (Ugx.2896). Due to reduced supply from the production locations around the country, the volume of beans crossing to the Kenyan side has dropped to an estimated 400MT on a daily basis.
In other major markets, beans were offered expensively at Ugx.2500-Ugx.3500/kg at wholesale price depending on variety and quality.
Farmgain Africa.