Sugar millers have threatened to stop their operations following a court order to increase sugarcane buying prices. The court said on April 24, 2014, that millers must go back to paying Sh5,900 per tonne instead of the current rate of Sh5,100 per tonne.
The Kenya Sugar Manufacturers Association (KSMA) is worried about this order. They say it could hurt the sugar factories and related businesses. KSMA’s Secretary Joyce Opondo said forcing millers to pay the higher price is unfair and could harm both their operations and the livelihoods of farmers.
Because of this, the millers plan to stop their operations from May 10, 2024, until the court resolves the matter. They want the government to help because shutting down could lead to many job losses, stop sugar production and trading, cause a big loss in revenue for the government, and make farmers lose their crops because there won’t be a market for their sugarcane.
The millers are also questioning how the Sugarcane Pricing Committee (SPC) works. This committee decides on sugarcane prices each month based on the market. But recently, the government allowed cheap sugar imports, which made local sugar prices drop. So, the committee lowered the sugarcane price to Sh5,100 per tonne. The millers think the court’s order to raise the price breaks trade rules and agreements between them and the farmers.
The court order came from a case filed by Charles Atyang Atiang, a sugarcane farmer and Chair of the Kenya Association of Sugar and Allied Products. He challenged the government’s decision because it lowered the price per tonne of sugarcane without considering things like inflation and the impact of cheap imported sugar on local prices.
