Kenya has started importing molasses as sugar cane production in the country declines, with the first vessel carrying over 12,000 tonnes docking at the Mombasa port on Saturday.
Raw Trade Ltd, a local company, has partnered with global commodity trader UM Trading to import molasses from Sudan.
BY-PRODUCT
UM Trading is a member of UM Group Ltd that is involved in trading and marketing of molasses and vegetable oils, as well as storage of bulk liquids.
Molasses is a by-product of cane during refining.
AVAILABILITY
Kenya has not been importing the commodity since it was readily available.
“This is the first consignment and we expect to bring at least one vessel every month because there is a shortage in the country that is expected to last for more than two years,” Raw Trade director Abdiwahab Rashid said.
DECLINE
He spoke at the Mombasa port when he witnessed the offloading of the consignment from the vessel Mv Brent.
The importation of molasses signals an acute shortage of cane in the country’s sugar belt.
Over the past one year, sugar production has nosedived, with the Sugar Directorate saying in the nine months before September, there was a 49 per cent decline.
