The prices of wheat products, including bread, are under fresh pressure after flour jumped 10 percent last week.
Millers say the rising price is due to expensive replacement of wheat stocks at a time Ukraine and Russia are at war, limiting supplies.
Millers are now paying Sh57,000 for a tonne of wheat landed in Mombasa from Sh45,600 in January, representing a 25 percent jump.
This comes even as the processors warn that the cost of the wheat products will rise further in the coming days as the current jump in the cost of wheat has not been fully factored in in the current hike.
“The cost of wheat has now become uncertain as it keeps on rising every day. The cost of replacing the stocks that we have at the moment is way too high,” said Rajan Shah, chief executive officer of Capwell Industries.
A two-kilo packet of Ajab, has shot from Sh157 last week to retail at Sh168 currently. Pembe and Exe for the same quantity are selling at Sh168 and Sh161 respectively.
The price of wheat has been on a steady increase since February 24 when Russia announced that it would be invading Ukraine.
The two countries supply Kenya with 66 percent of the total wheat that is consumed locally and the current war that has resulted in logistical challenges and export bans has hurt prices.
Commercial shipping
Mr Shah said traders are finding it difficult to get stocks from Russia because they are not sure if they will get paid after the US banned it from trading in dollars.
Ukraine last week introduced export quotas on wheat to protect its local population from a shortage that may be occasioned by the ongoing war.
Ukraine’s military recently suspended commercial shipping at its ports after Russian forces invaded the country while Moscow had earlier ordered the Azov Sea closed to the movement of commercial vessels until further notice, paralyzing activities along the Black Sea- a major corridor for grain.
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