Africa-Press – Angola. The prices of the main products of the basic food basket, in particular wheat flour, continue to fall, as a result of the start-up of the Strategic Food Reserve (REA), among other factors.
In the last three weeks, the cost of wheat flour, specifically, has been fixed between 11,000 and 22,000 kwanzas, in packages of 25 and 50 kilograms, respectively.
Recently, Angop found that the price of the main input used in the production of bread and cakes varied according to the typology, location and quantity of bags, particularly in large commercial areas.
As an example, a bag of wheat branded Madrugada (50 kilograms) costs 20,800 kwanzas, in one of the warehouses in the municipality of Cazenga, representing a reduction of 700 kwanzas compared to the month of February, when the product cost 21,500 kwanzas.
Fifty kilograms of Gazela do Norte wheat is costing 20,600 kwanzas, against the 21,800 charged in February in one of the warehouses located on the outskirts of the former Estalagem market, in the municipality of Viana.
Contrary to these two referenced commercial establishments, the price of wheat shows an increasing trend in the warehouses of Mercado do Trinta, municipality of Viana, where a 50-kilogram bag of the Primeira brand costs 21,600 kwanzas, against 20,500 in March.
According to the assistant of one of the commercial establishments in that market, Filipe Kupungwa, the customer who buys 100 or more bags, for example, benefits from a discount of 100 kwanzas for each bag.
Without revealing the real reasons for the rise in the price of wheat flour in that space, he explained that, in recent days, there has been a shortage of this product on the market, a fact that makes it impossible for customers to buy large quantities.
In the aforementioned commercial area, Stallion brand wheat flour sacks are being sold at 21,000 kwanzas. In that warehouse, flour of the “L’aigle du Nord” typology is being sold at 22,000 kwanzas, while Madrugada is priced at 21,500. In another warehouse adjacent to Mercado do Trinta, Primeirá brand wheat costs 21,100 kwanzas, against 22,100 last February.
Given the fluctuation in the price of a bag of wheat flour in warehouses, the kilogram of cereal in open-air markets is currently around 350 kwanzas, against 300 in recent weeks.
Luzia António, a reseller for 12 years at Mercado do Trinta, confirmed that until the beginning of March she bought a bag of wheat at 20 thousand kwanzas and resold the kilo at 300 kwanzas, but, in recent days, the price has changed to 22 thousand, which bag of fifty.
Florinda Cristóvão, who has been selling various products for 28 years at “Asa Branca”, says that in January and February a bag of wheat cost 20,000 kwanzas. -Grinding (primary source), according to its executive administrator, Arieth Mendonça.
The head of the factory revealed that “there was no change in the price of wheat flour from the factory”.
Meanwhile, the Strategic Food Reserve highlights that the price of wheat flour (25 kg) dropped from 23,033 kwanzas to 11,400, compared to November 2021, a period in which the REA had not been created.
This reality coincides with the price charged in one of the supermarkets on Avenida Rei Katyavala, in the municipality of Luanda, where the 25-kilogram bag of wheat flour, “Tio Lucas”, is being sold at 11,520 kwanzas, with an additional 120.
The drop in the price of wheat, in particular, comes three months after the start of operation of the Strategic Reserve of Angola (REA), which aims to regulate the market and influence the drop in prices of essential products of the basic food basket.
The REA is an initiative of the Angolan government, which initially plans to acquire, store and distribute up to 354 thousand tons of foodstuffs to wholesalers, progressively increasing to up to 520 thousand tons of products.
In addition to imports, a good part of these goods will be produced and transformed in the country, with an impact on the reduction of prices of up to 5.00 percent for the final consumer.
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