Kenyan Local Firms Given Greenlight To Import Industrial Sugar Under Pleasing Terms

The East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers has permitted five Kenyan manufacturing companies the green light to import 23,459 tonnes of industrial sugar as per the favored duty terms for the 12 months to come.

According to the deal, the commodity to be imported at a duty rate of 10 per cent will see Excel Chemical Limited bring in 9,000 tonnes of sugar for use in the production of fruit juices, flavored drinks, drinking chocolate and jelly.

Drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline Limited is allowed to import 4,000 tonnes for manufacture of medicines and health drinks while Kevian Kenya Limited has the permission to ship in 6,000 tonnes for juice production.

Additional firms covered under the deal include Highlands Drinks Limited, which received the nod to ship in 4,000 tonnes of industrial sugar for the manufacture of Highland cordials, carbonated soft drinks, and ready-to-drink products, and Equatorial Nut Processors Limited, which will import 459 tonnes to make fortified blended flour.

Kenya doesn’t take part in the processing of industrial sugar (white refined sugar) and the vent is filled through imports.

The regional firms based in Kenya currently produce ordinary table sugar, whose production grew by 15 per cent between January and July this year when compared with a similar period last year, captivating the sector regulator to cut imports by almost half last month.

Details from the Sugar Directorate shows that the volume of the commodity produced hit 480,849 tonnes in the review period up from 418,799 in the corresponding time last year.

The increase saw the directorate restrict imports in July to 9,394 tonnes from a high of 17,200 tonnes a month earlier, representing a 46 per cent decline.