PUTRAJAYA – Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry today gave its assurance that Malaysia has enough supply of onions despite the ban on exports by largest supplier India.
Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said following the ban, a total of 121 importing companies began to increase the volume of imports from other countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Netherlands and China to meet the domestic needs.
He said the total import of onions to Malaysia from January to August was 340.2 million kg or an average of 42.5 million kg per month.
“There are 24 countries that export onions to Malaysia with the largest exporters being India (38%), Pakistan (23%), China (16%), the Netherlands (8%) and Thailand (8%).
“The import of onions from India is 127.96 million kg of the total import.”
He said based on current statistics, Malaysians on average consume 17kg of onions a year or 1.4kg per month, making the average need of 35.97 million kg per month.
He added throughout the year, the ministry did not receive any complaints related to the supply of onions.
“However, regular monitoring is carried out to ensure onion supply in the market is sufficient.”
He said the ministry had inspected 2,711 district retailers and 1,039 district wholesalers, so far this year. – Bernama, October 29, 2020
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