Mozambique: Bread is more expensive, since 1 June – Carta

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Mozambique: Bread is more expensive, since 1 June – Carta

3:20 CAT | 07 Jun 2022

File photo: DW

Bread, one of Mozambican families’ staple foods, has gone up two meticais in Maputo bakeries since June 1st. The bakeries say that the price increase results from the higher cost of wheat resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On Monday, “Carta” made a round of the main bakeries in Maputo city, and found that the minimum price of bread to the consumer stands at 12 meticais.

Our reporting team visited the bakeries Aliança (Avenida Ho-Chi-Min), Central (Karl Max Av.) and Delicias (Av. Josina Machel), and obtained the following chart: 200-gram loaves cost 15 meticais; 160-gram loaves now cost 12 meticais; and 80-gram loaves, which before cost five meticais, now cost six meticais.

The price is new in the bakeries, but was already being charged by informal vendors on the streets. For example, in Maputo province, since the end of February last, bread has been sold at 12 meticais by informal sellers, due to the withdrawal of discounts to re-sellers by the bakeries. Before, informal traders bought bread for eight meticais and resold it for 10 meticais (the same price charged in the bakeries), making a profit of two meticais per loaf. So, with the new prices, it is probable that informal traders in Maputo province will resell bread at 14 meticais.

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Meanwhile, the Mozambican Association of Bakers (AMOPÃO) will not confirm whether the increase in the price of bread was sanctioned by the organisation, or clarify whether or not the decision extends to the remaining bakeries in the country.

“Not all provinces have changed the price of bread. The provinces are decentralised in terms of the price they charge. Currently, the price of bread, per province, varies from 8 meticais to 14 meticais,” AMOPÃO president Victor Miguel declared.

Minister for Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, warned that the price of wheat could “skyrocket” if the war in Ukraine does not end.

“Until last month, we had wheat in stock, mainly for bread production, and we believe that in the coming period this stock will run out and new stocks will be obtained with the new prices which are high because of the crisis. So, we have no way out of this and in this regard, I advise people to also consume cassava and sweet potato as an alternative to bread,” the minister said.

By Marta Afonso

Source: Carta de Moçambique