(Business in Cameroon) – In the second quarter of 2024, production costs in Cameroon’s food processing industries increased by 1% year-on-year. This marks the first rise in production costs in this sector after two quarters of stability, according to the Industrial Production Price Index (IPPI) released by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
In the first quarter of 2024, factory prices in the food processing sector remained steady after a 4.4% drop in the fourth quarter of 2023. The INS report does not explain the reasons behind this increase in production costs by the end of June. However, it coincides with a slowdown in the sector in the previous quarter, indicating challenging conditions in this industry since the beginning of the year.
According to the INS’s national accounts report for the first quarter of 2024, imports dropped by 9% during this period. This decline in imports is linked to reduced activity in the country’s processing industries. “The decrease results from lower imports of products from agricultural processing industries, other food industries, and other manufacturing sectors,” the INS noted.
