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The Grain Traders Association of Zambia (GTAZ) says the maize export programme has slowed down because Zambia’s maize has become expensive compared to the regional market
The Grain Traders Association of Zambia (GTAZ) says the maize export programme has slowed down because Zambia’s maize has become expensive compared to the regional market.
GTAZ said that the country only exported 3, 000 metric tonnes of maize in April, of the 63, 000 metric tonnes that the members of the association were allowed to export. An association representative said that it has not exported any maize in the month of May due to the price in the regional market being lower than the price in Zambia.
People exporting maize to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, Angola, and Zimbabwe were buying the maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) at K4000 per tonne. This was more than what the maize was costing in the countries where the maize was being exported. On the other hand, exporters who are not getting their maize from FRA are able to make some profit from the exports as they may be slightly cheaper and can compete regionally.
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The Zambian government had allowed the export of a total of 70, 000 metric tonnes of maize in April 2022. Because of the expensive maize, exporters were not able to sell the quantity allowed to export. The association has called for concrete steps from the government to bring down the cost of maize procured from the government agencies to be competitive in the international market.
