Ministry assures public of adequate supply of onion

PUTRAJAYA: Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry today gave the assurance of enough supply of onion 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 2020 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 per cent), Pakistan (23 per cent), China (16 per cent), the Netherlands (eight per cent) and Thailand (eight per cent).

"The import of onions from India is 127.96 million kg of the total import," he said in a statement.

Nanta said based on current statistics, Malaysians on average use 17 kg of onions a year or 1.4 kg per month, making the average need of 35.97 million kg per month.

According to him, throughout the year, the ministry did not receive any complaints related to the issue of onion supply.

"However, regular monitoring is carried out to ensure that the onion supply in the market is sufficient," he said.

Nanta said the ministry had inspected 2,711 district retailers and 1,039 district wholesalers, so far this year.

-- BERNAMA