PETALING JAYA: Consumers may have to fork out more for their foodstuff now that several food and beverage industry players have been hit with a RM600 increase per tonne in the price of sugar.
Sugar refineries issued a notification on Dec 31, informing 17 manufacturers of the price increase effective Jan 1.
The price for coarse grain sugar is now RM2,540 per tonne, up from RM1,940, while that of fine grain sugar has risen to RM2,620 per tonne from RM2,020.
However, manufacturers have expressed surprise at the lack of an official government announcement.
Fraser and Neaves Holdings Bhd (F&N) chief executive officer Datuk Ng Jui Sia said he was confused, adding that the Government normally announced any increase before such a notification from suppliers.
“I understand the rationale for the price adjustment. The problem is that we received such short notice and had no time to plan or prepare for it,” he said, adding that he was also surprised that the change came a month before Chinese New Year.
Permanis chief executive officer Erwin Selvarajah said he was unaware of the price increase.
“I was merely informed of a meeting with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry on Monday to discuss certain issues,” he said.
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Tan Sri Mustafa Mansur confirmed that it would be having the dialogue.
“We want to get ministry clarification on the price increase. The 17 manufacturers want to discuss how it will be implemented,” he said.
A spokesman for one of the country’s four sugar refineries said the increase affected only a certain segment of the market.
“Only the biggest players are involved. A government announcement would only be made if the entire market was affected,” he said, adding that it was normal for a last-minute notification.
When contacted, ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Zain Mohd Dom said manufacturers had been warned that they might not be able to buy subsidised sugar any more in view of the rise in world sugar price.
He said the Government only had RM400mil left from the initial RM1.6bil fund to subsidise sugar at the current price of RM2.10 per kilo.
On the notification before Chinese New Year, he said the Government could not afford to spend so much money on sugar subsidies for another month if they waited until after the festival.
Showing posts with label price hike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label price hike. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, December 4, 2010
INFLATION IN THE MAKING
We have been shared with the latest news of revision of service tax from current 5% to 6% effectively 1st January 2011. The revised service tax is to ensure that the government will earn an extra income and further reduce the deficit. The implementation of revision is to temporarily 'calm the emotion' of the public of the implementation of GST of which pending for approval in Parliament.
The government also has announced the revision of retail price for RON95, RON97, flour, and LPG. All revision has take into effect on 4/12/2010 from 12 midnight, except RON97 was increased couple of days ago.
In any business nowadays, we will need transportation to deliver goods, services as well as products to consumers/customers. A mamak will get his supply of flour from retailer/wholesaler/supermarket. Definitely he will need to drive or at least get someone to buy the stock on his behalf.
The cost of transportation also will be borne by retailer/supermarket/wholesaler from the supplier/factory. What is the transportation cost here? We are talking about the price hike of petrol/diesel, a commodity used by the transporter to power up their prime mover/trucks to deliver the goods to the consumer (mamak, supermarket, retailer, wholesaler).
In this case, the transportation cost are being passed from one end to another end and the last effect is, the rakyat will pay the cost, i.e. an increase price of roti canai.
An increase of consumer goods will defitely impacted our inflation rate escalating, eventhough this is not the primary cause to the increase. The consumer price index for Oct 2010 114.7 an increase of 2% from 2009. An increase of CPI resulted to less buying power of the consumer as they need to fock-up extra 2% of their disposible income to spend their income on goods and services as compared to goods and services pricing in 2005.
The concerns on property bubble in Klang Valley has raised the concerns of BNM to increase OPR to 2.75% to curb the issue of property speculation. Most of the speculators are buying the middle and high end property for the purpose of rental or disposal at a later date. Speculation activity impacted the low and middle income group as they buying power has diminished as cost of living increased.
As a consumer/rakyat, it is time for us to reprioritise our expenditure and to make adjustments to suit with challenging economy landscape nowadays.
The government also has announced the revision of retail price for RON95, RON97, flour, and LPG. All revision has take into effect on 4/12/2010 from 12 midnight, except RON97 was increased couple of days ago.
In any business nowadays, we will need transportation to deliver goods, services as well as products to consumers/customers. A mamak will get his supply of flour from retailer/wholesaler/supermarket. Definitely he will need to drive or at least get someone to buy the stock on his behalf.
The cost of transportation also will be borne by retailer/supermarket/wholesaler from the supplier/factory. What is the transportation cost here? We are talking about the price hike of petrol/diesel, a commodity used by the transporter to power up their prime mover/trucks to deliver the goods to the consumer (mamak, supermarket, retailer, wholesaler).
In this case, the transportation cost are being passed from one end to another end and the last effect is, the rakyat will pay the cost, i.e. an increase price of roti canai.
An increase of consumer goods will defitely impacted our inflation rate escalating, eventhough this is not the primary cause to the increase. The consumer price index for Oct 2010 114.7 an increase of 2% from 2009. An increase of CPI resulted to less buying power of the consumer as they need to fock-up extra 2% of their disposible income to spend their income on goods and services as compared to goods and services pricing in 2005.
The concerns on property bubble in Klang Valley has raised the concerns of BNM to increase OPR to 2.75% to curb the issue of property speculation. Most of the speculators are buying the middle and high end property for the purpose of rental or disposal at a later date. Speculation activity impacted the low and middle income group as they buying power has diminished as cost of living increased.
As a consumer/rakyat, it is time for us to reprioritise our expenditure and to make adjustments to suit with challenging economy landscape nowadays.
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