Kenyans are set to dig deeper into their pockets after experts expressed fears that import prices are likely to shoot up by up to 600 per cent.
A report by People Daily on Monday, March 8, indicated that the spike is caused by the rarity of shipping containers that have pushed their prices to the max.
Ibrahim Abdi Noor noted that the cost of a shipping container had risen from Ksh30,000 in 2020 to Ksh180,000 today
Noor further noted that the most affected trade route was China which accounts for a majority of imported goods into the country.
"The shortage was created by a surge in orders after a lag that was caused by the pandemic that left many orders unattended to, so there is a lot of pent up demand.
"The prices of goods will definitely be affected because prices of containers are up by more than 600 per cent," he stated.
Experts from DHL shipping company, corroborated Noor's observations, noting that the surge was caused by increased demands.
"Increase in the form of congestion fees, port additional or PSS/GRI to the congested West Coast ports of Africa continue to be imposed.
"Kenyan and Nigerian destinations being the most heavily impacted," a rep from DHL noted.
China accounts for the most imports into Kenya which stood at 21 percent as of March 2020, just at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. At the time, the pandemic had already ravaged China.
Before the pandemic struck, China accounted for over 50 per cent of imports into the country.
The goods imported include electrical machinery, spare parts, railway and trainway locomotives, iron and steel, and vehicles taking lead.
Kenya is estimated to import goods worth 371 billion while the Asian country only takes goods worth Ksh11 billion in the country.
