Consumer agony deepens

Namibian consumers, especially the poor, should brace themselves for steep increases in the price of staple foods at the end of next month.Namib Mills has announced price increases for all its products - maize meal, Bakpro wheat flour, rice, pasta, yeast, instant maize porridge and mahangu – effective from 31 July. According to Namib Mills the wholesale price of maize meal will increase by 3.2%, while wheat flour will increase by 3.2%, Complete Mix by 3.2%, rice by 4.4% and pasta by 3.3%. The price of yeast will increase by 1%, instant porridge by 3% and mahangu by 2%. There will be no increase in the price of sugar. “Costs to our business have increased over the last 24 months with Namib Mills absorbing these by not implementing any inflationary price increases over this period, irrespective of the fact that inflation has increased by 10% over the last 24 months,” said the company's spokesperson, Ashante Mannetti. According to Mannetti the direct input cost, which comprises the bulk of the company's cost structure, has increased more than the inflation rate. Electricity costs have increased by 12% and 6% respectively over the last two financial years, with an expected further 8% increase this year, effectively totalling a 28% increase over the period. Electricity is expected to further increase in July after the Electricity Control Board (ECB) approved a 5% bulk tariff increase by NamPower. This increase means that the bulk power tariff will increase from N$1.61 per kilowatt-hour to N$1.69 per kilowatt-hour. Furthermore, fuel costs have increased by 13% over the last two years, affecting production and distribution costs. The prices of both petrol and diesel increased by 60 cents a litre at the beginning of this month. The new pump prices at Walvis Bay are N$12.30 per litre for petrol, N$12.63 per litre for diesel 500ppm and N$12.68 per litre for diesel 50ppm.“We therefore have no other option than to announce price increases on our product categories,” said Mannetti. The last price increase announced by Namib Mills was in 2016 when prices skyrocketed because of drought. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index for May indicates that inflation in the category Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages increased to 3.9% compared to 3.7% recorded in May 2017.This slight increase emanated from increases registered in the sub-components of bread and cereals from -3.7 to 2.3%; meat from 6.6 to 8.5%; fruit from 1.5 to 12.6%; oils and fats from 0.7 to 2.6% and vegetables, including potatoes and other tubers, from -4.0 to 5.8%.The monthly inflation rate for Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages was 0.5% compared to 0.3% registered in the previous month. The Economic Association of Namibia says the increase in food prices is bad news for the poor since they spend the largest share of their total consumption on these items. “We expect food prices to continue to increase. Futures prices at the South African Futures Exchange suggest price increases for white and yellow maize of some 7% by December 2018 and some 1% for wheat. Oil prices have also been on the increase, triggering fuel price increases that will have impacts on the transportation costs of goods and eventually on the production goods of businesses as well as the costs of consumer products,” it said. ELLANIE SMIT ELLANIE SMIT

Consumer agony deepens

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-14

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Consumer agony deepens

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-14

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