The government is looking into local procurement of polymers, a major raw material in sachet water manufacture, as part of measures to cut costs and stabilise pricing following the postponement of a planned price hike by makers.
The action comes ahead of a crucial meeting on Wednesday between the Trade Ministry and water producers, which is intended to address growing input costs and more general issues facing the industry.
According to officials, long-term strategies to lessen dependency on imports are just as important as short-term price stability.
Kofi Addo, the Ministry’s Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Industrial Development, stated in an interview that the Ministry moved quickly after learning about the impending price increase.
“Last week, we had the message that this increment was coming on board. And as a ministry, for the protection of our consumers and to ensure price stability in the environment, we quickly started the engagement with the manufacturers and producers.”
“So, all that we did was to make sure that we bring stability and to protect our consumers. We are having this meeting to understand the issues that led to the increment. Two, we also want to make sure that all the other players are brought on board, so that when we come out with the solution, everybody will be happy along the value chain.”
Authorities are adamant that the interaction will happen quickly and that there will be a significant push to address pricing issues.
“So, on Wednesday, we are bringing the manufacturers and the producers to make sure that these issues are resolved and resolved with the speed of light. As a ministry, we are much, much concerned about feeding the industry with available raw materials. In fact, that has been our mandate since the government took over.”
“So, what we are doing right now, since the holidays, we are speaking to other people who are in the value chain to see if we can have locally available polymers, which are the main ingredients in the sachet production.”
In order to promote consumer protection and industry competition, the ministry is also attempting to fortify regulatory structures.
“Over the years, we have tried to introduce the Consumer Protection and the Competition Bill. As we are speaking right now, the ministry is working on these two important documents to make sure that they are completed on time to support the issues that you have raised.”
In the medium run, officials think that better local input supply and regulation could reduce cost pressures and stabilise sachet water prices.
Source: newsthemegh.com