Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Bonded Warehouse handled 640,000 tons of various food products, in 2022, through the Strategic Food Reserve (REA), within the framework of balanced prices in the national market, where there is a “reduction” compared to 2021.
For the movement of products, there were costs in the order of USD 500 million for the acquisition of some foodstuffs that make up the basic basket, namely rice, wheat flour, corn flour, bombó, sugar, beans, massango, oil food and franc thigh, products mostly imported.
Due to the national production promotion program, in addition to imports, the REA foresees, for this year 2023, a stock of approximately 520 thousand tons.
Launched at the end of 2021, the REA makes it possible to establish a relationship between consumption and food needs, domestic production, imports and exports of food, as well as the adoption of public policies aimed at normalizing the market and regulating the prices of basic products for feeding the populations.
At the start of operations, 354,000 tons of food were immediately placed on the market, in a first phase, an amount that increases progressively.
According to the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bonded Warehouse, Eduardo Machado, this year purchases may be higher, as we are witnessing a period in which there is a tendency, with some concern, for a change in the “core business” of some operators , due to the fact that they verified the reduction of the profit margins, with the sale of the basic basket products, now with reference prices.
Speaking to the journalist, this Tuesday, within the framework of the presentation of a Study on “Impact of the Strategic Food Reserve on the Behavior of Basic Food Basket Prices”, the official made it known that some operators “do not interest them, that is, they do not have great benefits at current prices”.
When that happens, he continued, this offer must be replaced, which will force the Strategic Food Reserve to assume a more relevant role, in relation to what is the balance of the offer, and depending on what will be the behavior of the operators. .
With the current price level, he said, operators with some dimension and expression in what is their capacity and structure remain in the market.
Otherwise, “the operators will leave the market and then the REA will have to assume its role”.
“ (…) We don’t like to intervene. We like to sit still and let the market work for itself”, he said, maintaining that the REA is prepared to go up to 1.2 billion tons to maintain current price levels.
Study on the impact of OER
Presented by market research specialist Fernando Rodrigues, the study was carried out in the provinces of Huíla, Huambo, Cabinda, Luanda, Benguela and Lunda Norte.
For the study on the impact of the REA on the behavior of prices, 850 people were involved, including families and businessmen from the referred provinces.
Of this group, 23% of households and 39% of entrepreneurs consider that REA has managed to lower merchants’ margin rates.
As for the perception of the evolution of prices, the respondents point to rice (21%), chicken leg (18%) and sugar (17%) as the products in the basic basket that they would most like to see a price drop, considering that have the greatest impact on household budgets.
Particularly on the purchase of chicken leg, 57% of respondents consider the price paid to be high and 35% say that the fair price should be between four and five thousand kwanzas, for the box of this product, currently in the order of eight to nine thousand kwanzas.
In general, prices in wholesale trade fell by 31.35% between March 2022 and March 2023, that is, they fell more than in the “retail” category, which was 28.5% in the same period.
In terms of price reductions, maize meal (46.9%), cooking oil (42.5%) and bombó meal (41.2%) stand out among the products as a whole.
The lowest price of the basic food basket was registered in March of this year, 2023, according to the study.
According to the study, 70% of Angolans make purchases in informal markets and 39% on a partner basis, that is, shared purchases for the benefit of a lower price.
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