KUCHING, Jan 14: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) has implemented refined white sugar buffer stocks from two local manufacturers starting Jan 1 to prevent issues on sugar supply.
Its minister, Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi, in a statement today, said this decision was made after the country experienced sugar supply issues several times recently due to various factors such as factory closures, factory workers being infected with Covid-19, damage to boiler machines, and many others.
“To date, the weekly sugar production reports received from the four sugar mills show similar sugar production trends, but as a proactive measure, KPDNHEP has formulated a strategy to ensure that sugar production and supply in the domestic market is not affected,” he said.
The two sugar processing plants involved are Central Sugar Refinery Sdn Bhd (CSR) and MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd (MSM).
On the same note, Nanta pointed out that domestic sugar consumption is estimated at 0.65 kg per month per capita based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s data. Therefore, the annual amount required is estimated at 255,450 metric tonnes per year for the needs of 32.75 million Malaysians.
He said that for the production of both sugar manufacturing companies, 1,500,000 metric tonnes per year is sufficient for the usage of Malaysians and industrial in the country.
He also said as a precautionary measure and to ensure that the supply of sugar in the domestic market is always sufficient, KPDNHEP has held engagement sessions with the two major producing companies to discuss and find solutions that can be taken to prevent the occurrence of sugar shortage in the market again in the future.
“The implementation of refined white sugar stockpile by local sugar manufacturers is expected to help to prevent disruption to sugar supply in the future and thus prevent irresponsible parties from taking advantage by raising prices and keeping sugar stocks when a sugar disorder crisis occurs,” he explained. ― DayakDaily
