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Markets

Financial Analyst Maambo Hamaundu has attributed the continued plummeting of the Kwacha against the US Dollar the high demand for hard currency brought about by Government’s and private suppliers need to meet their obligations and procure farming inputs.

In an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Hamaundu said the local currency was being affected by the country’s level of indebtedness and Governments need to procure fertilizer and other agricultural inputs.

He explained that the laws of demand and supply were now kicking in after the local unit showed an appreciation driven by confidence and sentiments after the 12 August 2021 general elections.

“After elections, there was an appreciation sited on confidence, an appreciation driven by sentiments and now the new government is settling in and the laws of demand and supply are kicking in. Of course, the rate had gone in the wave of appreciation to as low as K15 to K16 per dollar and now it is going up and it appears it wants to settle in the K17 range. Therefore, it is demand and supply at play.

“What is causing this demand is our levels of indebtedness, it is our need to procure fertilizer and other agricultural inputs,” Hamaundu said.

He told ZBT that the desire to meet other government obligations also puts pressure on the exchange rate. Hamaundu stated that “On the other hand where is the forex coming from? It is coming in from the exports of copper, it is coming in from, now we have seen that there is some money which has been pledged by USAID.

He said it is really a question of how are the Government is going to juggle or balance the demand and supply. Hamaundu said this would be dependent on decisions that are being made now by the new Government.

“I will not be surprised personally as we go forward to see the Kwacha gaining more strength or indeed stabilizing because ultimately what we need is not necessarily a very strong currency but a very stable currency that will enable people to plan for their businesses easily,” he said.

The local currency has continued to plummet even further as market continues to face supply headwinds.

According to the Zanaco Bank Plc daily treasury newsletter, the Kwacha continued to drift north from Tuesday’s trading session as market continues to face supply headwinds. The local currency opened for trading at K16.6500/16.600 per dollar and plummeted marginally to be quoted at K16.6800/16.7300 per dollar.

Zanaco Bank indicates that market players will keenly watch out for supply flows that filter through the market today, which ultimately will determine the next USD/ZMW levels. However, as of Thursday, the Kwacha had depreciated further and breached the K17 per US dollar trading pair.

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Financial Analyst Maambo Hamaundu has attributed the

Agribusiness

Zambia’s diary industry continue to grapple with lack of infrastructure investment in refrigerated storage facilities resulting in continued loss of about half a billion liters of locally produced milk going to waste or sold at give away prices annually.

Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ) had last year 2020 lamented that about half a billion (over 545 million) litres of locally produced milk continue going to waste annually due to lack of refrigeration facilities and the preference for imported milk concentrates by large scale milk processors.

DAZ Executive Manager Jeremiah Kasalo stated that most of the milk produced by local diary farmers is being traded informally as it does not reach the formal trading channels dominated by large diary companies such as Zambeef’s Zammilk, Parmalat now under Lactalis and Trade Kings Diary Gold among others.

And one of the active cooperatives in Southern Province has disclosed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the situation has not changed a year later as there is has been limited to no investment put in place to instal adequate storage facilities.

Hilda Makaye who is managing the Kalomo Day District Milk Cooperative says the centre has a limited storage capacity of 2,500 liters, therefore some milk which is available from local diary farmers remains uncollected due to lack of adequate refrigeration facilities.

She said the centre collects about 3,500 litres of milk per day during the rainy season as there is plenty of water and green pasture which generally results in animals producing more milk as they do not struggle or move long distances to access water and food, adding that 90% of milk is composed of water which is key to increasing production.

Makaye added that some farmers face challenges feeding their animals in the dry season, therefore the availability of green pasture during the rainy season improves milk supply. She revealed that the centre is however currently collecting only 300 litres of milk per day as the volumes reduce in the hot season.

“We collect the milk early in the morning, by mid-morning a truck from Dairy Gold – Trade Kings,  which is the buyer of the milk, collects the milk and this is done every after a day and then after collection we start pouring some more milk in the tank in the afternoon”, she said.

Makaye said the cooperative has one sub centre where all farmers take their milk at 12:00hrs and after testing and determining the quality of the milk, it is taken to the collection centre where Dairy Gold-Trade Kings then collects it.

She noted that Parmalat was also buying milk from the cooperative but stopped doing so in August this year as the volumes of milk reduced, which is the case during the hot season adding that Parmalat would collect the milk one day and the next day Dairy Gold-Trade Kings would collect.

Makaye said in some unfortunate instances, farmers take their milk to the collection centre and find that there is no space in the chiller tank; the farmers would go back with their milk and either sell at an open market at a very cheaper price or store it in their fridges for the few that have.

She mentioned that the maintenance of storage facilities is also another challenge that the centre has. The storage facility the Centre was using is broken and has an internal leakage requiring around K50,000-K60,000 to be repaired, noting that the cooperative bought the machine from India as a cooperative with the help of a non-governmental organisations.

She said the cooperative is currently using a chiller tank, which was provided by Dairy Gold and may be able to procure another chiller tank before the end of next year with the help of cooperating partners. Makaye said the cooperative currently caters for people within the radius of 20km with plans underway for catering to diary farmers within the radius of 35kilometers after procuring equipment.

The Ministry of Livestock and Key Diary Companies such as Diary Gold, Lactalis and Zammilk have been challenged to come together and come up and implement a comprehensive public private partnership infrastructure program that can help the country cut on importing of more expensive milk concentrates and leverage the locally produced milk which is currently going to waste.

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Zambia’s diary industry continue to grapple with

Agribusiness

The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has u-turned and now confirmed that they will buy all the white maize that is already delivered at satellite depots. The agency has however asked for more time to deliver empty grain bags which is another fiasco that needs high level attention.

This follows complaints by mostly rural farmers who had travelled long distances to deliver their maize produce to depots only to be told that the agency had stopped buying and that it had met its target.

FRA Public Relations Coordinator John Chipandwe said the agency has noted the concerns from farmers that delivered their white maize to satellite depots countrywide and arising from that, the agency will immediately resume the purchasing of maize. He however did not disclose the quantities and value of funding that has been approved.

Chipandwe said the purchases will be restricted to maize already delivered to various satellite depots countrywide adding that no new deliveries will be bought by the agency as it was not buying anymore maize having reached its target.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Chipandwe said farmers have further expressed concerns that they may have no market for their delivered maize and that if the maize is not bought by the agency immediately with the onset of the rains, this may result in huge crop losses.

Agro Minister Mtolo Phiri announced that government had given a go ahead for an export quota of about 1.2 million tonnes, a move that is expected to encourage private buyers to go back and buy up more maize from the market.

And FRA has further urged farmers to exercise patience concerning the delivery of empty grain bags as the agency has continued delivering them as and when received from suppliers. Chipandwe noted that FRA bags take a bit of time to manufacture as they are special bags specially meant for long term storage of grain hence the seeming delay in the deliveries of the bags to depots.

 

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The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has u-turned

Agribusiness

Zambia’s leading fish producer Yalelo has disclosed that the high cost of fish feed in determined by feed inputs of which Soya is one of the key ingredients and that this has an impact on final retail fish prices.

Yalelo Director Fisho Mwale told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that there are many factors that determine the cost of fish feed and soya beans which is one of the main ingredients in the production of fish feed.

Mwale told ZBT that Soya is currently fetching the highest price that has ever been encountered “I think it’s about US$ 700 per tonne” which leads to high prices of feed.

He explained that it is also projected that maize prices would soon go up and maize being one of the ingredients in fish feed means the cost of producing the feed will also go up and as one produces, they are affected by the cost of various inputs which the industry has no control over thereby translating into high cost of fish feed.

Mwale mentioned that unless the industry is able to control the high prices of inputs, invariably the cost would be transferred to the final consumer by increasing fish prices so that those in the sector are able to produce and make a profit.

And the Yalelo Director has stated that one of the ways to increase fish production and close the countrywide deficit is to have more people venture into fish farming as the deficit is an opportunity for Zambians to venture into aqua culture and engage in increasing production.

Mwale said the country has been experiencing a fish deficit for some years due to factors such as population growth adding that there is a population growth every year, which means there is need for more food products for the expanding population to consume and fish is not an exception.

Mwale said the fish tonnage could only be increased by engaging more people to start fish farming and by supporting existing entities in the sector in terms of funding, reduction of taxes on inputs and creating an enabling environment.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZBT, Mwale said creating an enabling environment so that people are able to be more economically active in the sector and be able to afford the various inputs required to produce the fish would boost production.

“It’s like farming, if you have a deficit in your maize production, you encourage and create conditions for people to go into that sector so that they can produce more”, he said.

 

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Zambia’s leading fish producer Yalelo has disclosed

Markets

One of Zambia’s leading brokerage firms has revealed that the current rate of fees required for the registration of securities is too high and this is contributing to hindering the growth of capital markets in Zambia.

Pangea Securities, one of the founders of capital markets in Zambia disclosed that the capital market in Zambia faces various challenges with the most prominent being low liquidity and limited participation.

Pangea Securities Chief executive officer Ceasor Siwale said low liquidity and limited participation were the challenges currently facing the Capital Market and thus serving as a hindrance to the market fulfilling its role in the Zambian Economy.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT , Siwale stated thst “this is particularly unfortunate in the Zambian Capital Market due to the fact that the uptake of securities is never guaranteed as there are often a few or no underwriters of offers and when these come forward, they do so at high underwriting charges.

As fees are the main source of income for the market regulators, the government should consider setting aside funds to financially assist the capital market regulatory bodies,” Siwale said.

He said imposing burdens on the cost of doing business for listed entities or potential listings, does a little to incentivize existing issuers and attract new entrants. Siwale explained that fees should be revised to make listing an attractive option for potential listings by corporates.

He said the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) Alternative Market (LuSE Alt-M) is a market which was established to be a vehicle of empowerment for small and medium enterprises and local investors and enable them to raise long term cheap capital but is particularly hit by the high fees and rigid listing requirements.

“There is a low investment appetite amongst local Zambians. Poor financial literacy especially in matters concerning investment options is a factor. A comprehensive and systematic programme of sensitization needs to be conducted by Government players and stakeholders in the private investment sector.

“This could include road shows and other sensitization efforts that are funded by the government,” Siwale said.

He said the ‘buy and hold’ approach by institutional investors such as pension funds exacerbates the low liquidity in the market as these tend to hold securities over a long period of time.

Siwale said investment guidelines for institutional investors to operate as some form of market makers need to be put in place. He institutions investors such as pension funds should be encouraged to provide for outsourcing of the investment function to private sector asset managers.

Siwale said the outsourcing of the investment function will stimulate liquidity within the capital market.

“The Government should look at formulating a policy that encourages Pension funds to invest a certain amount of their funds into SMEs using the securities exchange as opposed to direct financing through loans.

There is a need to vigorously ensure enforcement of the minimum free float requirements across the entire listings board to ensure adequate supply of equities which will also encourage foreign portfolio flows into the capital markets,” he said.

Siwale noted that in Zambia, listed companies only enjoy a tax incentive in the inaugural year of listing hence the need for a more recurring system which offers tax benefits to Listed Companies.

He said Listed companies could also be given further tax incentives dependent on the percentage shares that are in free-float beyond the required minimum to encourage the companies to increase the shares they have in free-float.

Siwale explained that it is pertinent that the various laws and regulations that govern the market must operate in harmony with one another.

He observed that an area of concern is the interplay between the LuSE Listings Rules and other industry regulatory requirements.

Siwale said there is need for deliberate policies to be formulated requiring parastatal companies to be listed to increase the number of listed companies and also diversify the sectors available for investment.

“Efforts to increase the type of securities available for investment (e.g. ETFs, derivatives) should be supported by the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) investment guidelines that allow fund managers to invest in such securities.

“Removal or reduction of Withholding Tax on corporate and Government securities (both Treasury Bills and Bonds) will promote participation in the local markets while preserving the tax benefits associated with their status,” he said.

Siwale called for the need for tax incentives for issuers of green bonds and allow increased participation from both local and offshore investors.

He said this will enable the Capital markets to be socially responsive and sustainable to economic growth.

• Growth of Collective Investment Schemes needs to have direct focus to allow mainstreaming of savings into the mainstream financial system. This will provide a competitive opportunity to allow ordinary citizens to grow their wealth and participate in increasing the total gross national income. Additionally, Growth of the Collective Investment Schemes has great potential to grow the total market capitalisation that helps secure a resilient economy over the passage of time.

• Streamline Fund Managers both Pension Fund Managers as well as traditional fund managers under one regulatory body — SEC to help drive the required policy and financial impact for the growth of the market.

The PIA should be given administrative and conduct oversight while the SEC takes care of Financial oversight on all long term savings to allow easier and more impactful delivery of long term capital for the growth of the market.

Zambia’s capital markets have stagnated and struggling to grow to offer alternative sources of finance for local and international corporates. The markets remain illiquid and characterized by low participation and activity.

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One of Zambia’s leading brokerage firms has

Mining

The New Dawn Government led by President Hakainde Hichilema should ensure there are practical steps taken for the country to be able to meet the 3 million tonnes annual copper production target, a Lusaka based financial analyst has cautioned.

Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane when appointed to revealed that the New dawn Government would embark on an aggressive economic reform programme for the country with the aim to record production of 3 million metric tonnes of copper per year within the first term of office, a move that is expected to deliver elevated economic activities, bring in more forex and generate additional employment opportunities.

Financial analyst Maambo Hamaundu said Government should first start by asking why the mining companies were not able to accomplish this 3 million tonnes production levels now and then take practical steps towards achieving the pronouncement.

Hamaundu told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that achieving the set 3 million tons of annual copper production target by the government would put Zambia in a very good strategic position especially with the rising copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

“The minister of finance in one of his pronouncements did indicate to say he wants to see an improvement in the mining sector in terms of production. Our production of copper now is around 850 000 tonnes per year, he is pushing to say we could go to 3 million tonnes per annum.

“If we accomplish that and with the projections that the copper prices are likely to stay up and might even higher than where it is now, it could even reach US$15, 000 per tonne, then Zambia is sitting in a very good position, we might see the benefits of higher copper production trickling down into Zambia .

“But all this will be centered around management, yes we can pronounce to say we want to go to 3 million tonnes but we need to ensure that there are practical steps that are being taken,” he said.

Hamaundu further said “we need to ask ourselves, why are we not accomplishing that 3 million tonnes production now? What challenges is the mining sector facing? Are the mines deliberately not just mining because they are perhaps demotivated because of the current tax laws or is it that they do not have sufficient electricity to help them mine?.

He said all those questions have to be asked and answers or solutions identified on what needs to be done to ensure the country meets the target it’s aiming at. Hamaundu said ultimately if copper production improves, the ultimate and bigger beneficiaries will be the Zambian people.

“Ofcourse the business owners will also benefit but the biggest beneficiaries will be the Zambian people because a number of jobs will be created in the process, we will have high tax revenues to meet the social services and other needs for the country. That is the position we are in as a country at the moment,” he explained.

The challenge has always been on how to strike a balance between the mining companies interests and the country’s interests and agreeing on predictable and long term taxation that is equitable for the key stakeholders. It remains to be seen how the new government will handle these very complex negotiations.

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The New Dawn Government led by President

Agribusiness

Egg prices on the Zambian domestic market have collapsed and this has been largely attributed to a drastic drop in export demand which is mainly driven by traders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC, the largest export market for locally produced eggs.

This drop in export demand from DRC has further been exacerbated by the routine over production of eggs which coincides with the conducive hot weather condition that is experienced in Zambia from about September to November.

A random check on egg prices by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT across Zambia’s major cities revealed that egg prices per tray have collapsed from the highs of about K65 per tray to the current prices of about K38 per tray, a reduction of about 42%.

And the Poultry Association of Zambia (PAZ) has confirmed that the reduced egg prices on the market is because of over production and reduced trade at the Kasumbalesa (Zambia – Congo DR) border. And the drop in demand from DRC has been blamed on the recent Kwacha appreciation.

PAZ Executive Director Dominic Chanda said the recent appreciation of the Kwacha has depressed the egg demand at Kasumbalesa border as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) buys huge quantities of eggs from Zambia, adding that about 30-35% of the total eggs produced in Zambia is exported into the DRC.

Chanda told ZBT that the DRC is not importing huge quantities of eggs from Zambia currently due to the devaluated currency(Kwacha), which has resulted in Zambian produced eggs being more expensive for them, therefore traders need to reduce the price of eggs to be able to sell into the DRC.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZBT, Chanda said another reason causing the depressed prices is over supply of eggs on the market adding that the conducive weather that is experienced around this time of the year is facilitating for over production of eggs.

“When it’s hot, everything that a chicken eats goes or is mostly converted into egg production, the optimal temperatures for egg production are between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius. When it starts getting hotter, starting from September to about November, most poultry farmers tend to have overproduction because the chicken tends to respond positively in terms of egg production”, he said.

Chanda said currently, the biggest challenge is the devaluated currency, which has made the product to be expensive on the export market, so for traders to maintain the export market, they have limited to no option but to reduce the prices.

He told ZBT that because the prices of eggs at Kasumbalesa border have reduced in Kwacha terms and are trading between K36-K38 per tray, all the people that were previously selling into the DRC have resorted to selling some of their eggs on the domestic market.

He added that it is difficult to predict the market in an export oriented industry as the export market changes; it becomes difficult to predict noting that this is cyclical and is a period when prices start reducing adding that there would always be a time when the prices start rising but there is no telling when that may happen.

Chanda noted that the sector is eagerly waiting for government to announce what is in the budget for the poultry industry  in order to see what positive things to get from there and see what government will come up with in terms of policy direction, tax rebates and other policy objectives that will come in terms of supporting the sector.

“The president announced that the emphasis will be on value addition and diversifying the agriculture and livestock sector. If we are pushing towards value addition, what are some of the issues that government will have to come up with, and definitely in the budget we expect taxes for any imported machinery that is used for value addition”, he said.

The recent sharp Kwacha appreciation has been hailed by most importers who are now able to import and land products into Zambia at more competitive prices. But the Kwacha appreciation is like a double edged sword, exporters on the other hand are bound to suffer like the above case entails as locally produced goods will become more expensive when converted into say the US dollar.

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Egg prices on the Zambian domestic market

Sport

Football Administrator and ex-banker Simataa Simataa says he is hopeful that the gesture by Nkana Football Club Fans Fora to award K2,000 to the Man of the Match will inspire the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and MTN to up their offer.

Simataa said the move is a good initiative by Nkana supporters and he hopes that they will be able to raise the amount as high as K10, 000 or more adding that supporters of other clubs should emulate Nkana supporters.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Simataa said MTN, which currently awards K500 to the Man of the Match should try to beat the supporters and offer more than whatever amount the supporters may offer.

He however said he has always been against the idea of awarding one person as the criteria in which it is done is questionable because it is difficult to choose one winner in a team of eleven players with more than one outstanding player therefore pausing a challenge in determining the most outstanding player.

“I don’t believe in the Man of the Match award because football is a team game, just imagine a star without the sky and the clouds, will it shine, so the reason why you see that the star is shining at night is because there is a cloud behind it. I don’t believe in awarding a player Man of the Match unless he is playing alone like a tennis player or a boxer”, he said.

He noted that the best option would be to raise enough money and pay the entire team the same amount if they win a game or pay them for a goal difference adding that if a team wins 2-0 when they only needed one goal to win, everyone should be rewarded for the extra one goal.

“Zambian players are not used to it, the guy who gets it may even go and boast and other players will start holding grudges, you find that the next game even when he is open to score no one is passing him the ball”, he said.

Simataa said football involves teamwork as the strikers and defenders including all the other players work hard therefore rewarding all the players would encourage everyone on the team to work extra hard.

“How do you say these two were both outstanding but this one was better, in which form, how do you determine excellence between a goal keeper and a defender, a striker and defender or a midfielder and a goal keeper because these are 4 different departments. That’s why I don’t like those titles including top scorer, does he dribble and defend alone, the assist gave him the last pass and he scored, then you reward him for being top scorer”, he said.

 

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Football Administrator and ex-banker Simataa Simataa says

Markets

The annual inflation rate for September, 2021 has decreased to 22.1 percent from 24.4 percent recorded in August 2021 mainly due to price movements in both food and non food items.

This was mostly on account of the appreciation of the Kwacha which resulted in reduced prices for mostly imported and US dollar exchange rate linked goods. Clawing back the Kwacha value coupled with stabilization remains one of the critical path for improvement of macro economic variables for Zambia.

This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 22.1 percent between September 2020 and September 2021. Prices of food items such as fish, (dried bream medium and fresh kapenta), Margarine, eggs, cooking oil, sugar as well as vegetables decreased.

Price decreases in Purchases of Motor vehicles such as Toyota Hilux, Toyota corolla, Nissan Almera 1.5 L Acenta, Nissan Hardbody); and Charcoal were also recorded.

Speaking during the September monthly bulletin which the Zambian Business Times – ZBT attended, Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Interim statistician general Mulenga Mupesa  said the decrease in the annual rate of inflation was mainly attributed to price movements in both food and non-food items.

Mupesa said the annual food inflation for September, 2021 was recorded at 29.6 percent compared to 31.6 percent recorded in August 2021, a decrease of 2.0 percentage points.

He said this was mainly attributed to decreases in prices of food items such as Fish (Dried bream medium, Fresh kapenta); Vegetables (Rape, Chinese cabbage, Onion, Impwa, Cabbage, Green beans); Margarine, Eggs, Cooking oil and Sugar.

“Annual non-food inflation for September 2021 was down to 13.6 percent from 16.3 percent in August 2021. The decrease in inflation rate was mainly attributed to price decreases in Purchases of Motor vehicles (Toyota Hilux, Toyota corolla, Nissan Almera 1.5 L Acenta, Nissan Hardbody); and Charcoal,” he said.

Mupesa said of the 22.1 %, the Food and Non-alcoholic beverages group contributed 15.7 percentage points, while Non-food items accounted for 6.4 percentage points to the overall inflation rate of 22.1 percent.

He said of the 6.4 percentage points, the Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed the highest at 2.2 percentage points followed by Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance.

Mupesa said the Clothing and Footwear groups contributed 1.6 and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. The rest of the Non-Food groups accounted for the remaining 1.4 percentage points.

“At provincial level, Lusaka province contributed the highest at 6.1 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate of 22.1 percent recorded in September, 2021.

“Copperbelt province was second highest, contributing 4.8 percentage points while North Western province had the lowest contribution of 0.7 percentage points,” he said.

 

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The annual inflation rate for September, 2021

Markets

Zambia has yet again recorded a trade surplus of K3.9 billion in August 2021 compared to a surplus of K3.6 billion in July 2021 indicating an 8.3% increase. A drop of 9% in imports accounted for the largest part of the surplus. However, despite these consecutive statistical trade surpluses, the Kwacha continues to face pressure.

According to the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) Interim statistician general Mulenga Mupesa, exports mainly comprising domestically produced goods, fell by 5.3 percent to K17.5 billion in August 2021 from K18.5 billion in July 2021.

Speaking during the ZamStats monthly bulletin in Lusaka, Mupesa said this was mainly on account of about 32%, 27% and 20% decrease in export earnings of Consumer goods, Raw materials and Capital goods, respectively.

He said imports decreased by about 9% to K13.6 billion in August 2021 from K14.9 billion in July 2021. “This was mainly as a result of a 31.2 and 12.0 percent decrease in import bills of Consumer goods and Capital goods, respectively,” Mupesa said.

Meanwhile, Traditional Exports (TE’s) earnings increased by 0.7 percent to K13.5 billion in August 2021 from K13.4 billion in July 2021.

Mupesa said in terms of share in total exports, TEs or copper related exports accounted for 77.1 percent of export earnings in August 2021. He said Non Traditional Exports (NTE) earnings decreased by 20.9 percent to K4.0 billion in August 2021 from K5.1billion in July 2021.

Mupesa said in terms of share in total exports, NTEs accounted for 22.9 percent of total export earnings in August 2021.

“Export earnings from refined copper in August 2021 increased by 0.3 percent to K13.5 billion from K13.4 billion in July 2021.

“The increase is attributed to the 17.7 percent increase in export volumes from 62.9 thousand tonne in July 2021 to 74.0 thousand tonnes in August 2021. Copper prices on LME market for the corresponding months decreased by 0.8 percent to US$9,357.2 per tonne in August 2021 from US$9,433.6 per tonne in July 2021,” he said.

Mupesa said the volume of refined copper exported for the period January to August 2021 was 584.0 thousand tonne while that of 2020 for the same period was 591.0 thousand tonne representing a 1.2 percent decrease

Agricultural products accounted for a share of 25.3 percent of Zambia’s (NTEs) in August 2021 compared to 37.2 percent in July 2021.

Export earnings from agricultural products decreased by 46.1 percent to K1.0 billion in August 2021 from K1.9 billion in July 2021.

The major export commodities were Tobacco, partly or wholly stemmed/stripped accounting for 12.3 percent, other raw cane sugar (9.3 percent) and Cotton, not carded or combed (8.1 percent).

Non-agricultural products accounted for a share of 74.7 percent of Zambia’s NTEs in August 2021 compared to 62.8 percent in July 2021.

On the other hand, export earnings from non-agricultural products recorded a decrease of 6.1 percent to K3.0 billion in August 2021 from K3.2 billion in July 2021.

The major export commodities were Electrical energy accounting for 7.0 percent, Ferro-siliconemanganese (6.5 percent) and Portland cement (excl. white) (6.4 percent).

And Zambia’s major export products in August, 2021 were from the intermediate goods category mainly comprising copper anodes for electrolytic refining and Copper blister and accounting for 85.8 percent.

Exports from the consumer goods, raw materials and capital goods categories, collectively accounted for 14.2 percent of total exports in August, 2021.

 

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Zambia has yet again recorded a trade