ZIMBABWE’S cooking oil industry is set to expand this year as the country is expecting the best harvests of soyabeans in 20 years.
This was revealed yesterday by United Refineries Limited (URL) chief executive officer Busisa Moyo who said the future of the cooking oil industry in the country looks bright.
He said this has resulted in the growth of the Cooking Oil Association from three players in 2010 to the current eight players.
“The cooking oil industry is strong and expanding. We are looking forward to what is going to be the best soya harvest in 20 years at 90 000 to 100 000 metric tonnes. However, this is still below installed capacity of 400 000 metric tonnes per annum. The soya meal requirements in the country are 300 000mt per annum,’’ Moyo said.
"Some of the challenges experienced by the cooking oil industry are that the economy is still multi-currency. There are also street-wise wholesalers that don’t play by the rules.”
He said speculators were selling cooking oil at exorbitant prices of $3 600 for two litres, using the parallel market exchange rates of $1100 to the greenback, while the formal exchange rate is $805 to the United States dollar.
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“This creates distortions for the formal trade and deprives government of revenues,’’ Moyo said.