flour
 
KINGSTON, JAMAICA — Executives with Seprod and Jamaica Flour Mills have voiced concern over what they perceive to be dumping of flour from Trinidad & Tobago into the local Jamaican flour market, according to a Feb. 28 article inThe Gleaner.

“We’re getting dumped products out of Trinidad,” Richard Pandohie, chief executive officer of Seprod Ltd., told The Gleaner. “We’ve approached Jamaica Flour Mills to go as an industry to complain to the Anti-Dumping Commission about the situation because they are causing material damage to the industry here.”

Ralston Nembhard, general manager of Jamaica Flour Mills, told The Gleaner that the Jamaican flour industry began taking notice of the alleged dumping back in December.

“There has been a large influx of Trinidad flour at seemingly extraordinary prices, so as an industry we’re definitely going in the direction of bringing an action against that,” Nembhard said.

Pandohie and Nembhard told The Gleaner that they have seen a marked difference in price between what flour is selling for in Jamaica and what it is selling for in Trinidad.

“They are selling products to us at prices that are significantly lower than the prices they obtain in their own local market,” Pandohie said. “This for us is disappointing, to say the least. It is not something that we should accept. We’re definitely going to fight against it.”

According to The Gleaner, at least two brands of flour are being sold in Jamaica below their domestic price. Those brands are Caribbean Queen counter flour produced by Caribbean Flour Mills Ltd., and Special Palm Flour, which is made by National Flour Mills Ltd.