Kapa Oil Refineries has suspended some of its operations over limited raw materials.
The Rina vegetable oil maker has said the dollar shortage in the country has rationed its acquisition of imported raw materials.
On Tuesday, June 7, the company’s marketing manager Sid Shah said they are operating below the required production capacity due to shortage of raw materials.
He further warned of consequences should the dollar shortage situation continue to worsen.
“Our operations have been hampered due to the dollar scarcity and inability to access raw materials. This could lead to a fresh round of hike in prices for edible oils,” Shah said.
As earlier reported on WoK, Pwani Oil Commercial Director Rajul Malde announced the closure of its oil plants due to shortage of raw materials.
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“Getting sufficient amount of dollars required to support the factory in terms of getting sufficient raw materials is not happening. We are not even running the plant right now because of lack of raw materials
“We are competing for the same oil with the rest of the world and, therefore, prices are high. Added to that, we can’t pay on time so we don’t get priority in supply,” Malde said.
Malde noted that the situation which they are currently facing can be averted but only when the dollar situation improves.
“The situation can only improve if the dollar situation improves. And I am not seeing the dollar situation improving on its own without the central bank intervening and releasing some of the dollar reserves that they are holding to stablise the dollar demand in Kenya,” he added.
