The Crushers and Edible Oil Refiners Association (CEDORA) has disclosed that the statutory instrument – SI that temporarily suspended import duty on edible oils expired at end of October 2021 and may be the reason behind market price instability of the commodity.
CEDORA however refuted reports that there is a steep increase in cooking oil prices on the market. Association Director Aubrey Chibumba said he was not aware of cooking oil prices steeply going up as most of the supermarkets have maintained old prices.
Chibumba said CEDORA members has held their prices the same and if prices have gone up, it is by a small margin of between K3-K5, which may be a reflection of crude oil prices on the international market, which have gone up by USD 200 per tonne.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Chibumba said the Statutory Instrument (SI) number 63 of 2021 to suspend customs and exercise duty on importation of edible oils, meant to help cushion the prices of cooking oil, expired on 31 October 2021.
He said there has been no new SI issued therefore some traders and retail outlets might be increasing prices because they are adding Value Added Tax (VAT) and that may be the reason for the variations in cooking oil prices on the market.
He noted that the industry is waiting for guidance from government on the SI that expired and part of what is currently happening is because the market is disorderly due to not knowing the way forward. The Association however noted that there has been signals that the SI has been extended but there has been no official communication.
Chibumba mentioned that most brands have maintained prices for the past few months but a lot of sunflower oil has come onto the market, which is usually more expensive than other products so it may be selling for a higher price, but it was not on the market previously.
“So if you are trying to compare the price of sunflower oil and Soya oil, you are not comparing the same things, so you can’t say that the price has gone up, the correct thing to say is that there is a new product, more expensive product on the market”, he said.
