PETALING JAYA – Restaurant owners are looking at raising the price of their rice dishes as the cost of imported rice goes up by 36 per cent, driven by factors including climate change and conflicts.
“We will be left with no choice but to pass the extra cost to our customers. We can expect to see the price of a plate of rice to go up by about 20 sen (6 Singapore cents),” said Mr Wong Choy Sim, owner of a popular Chinese restaurant in Tapah, Perak.
He added that since eatery operators would want to sustain their business, diners would have to pay more.
Rice importer Padiberas Nasional said on Friday the price of white rice was raised to RM3,200 from RM2,350 per metric tonne due to factors such as climate change, the weak ringgit, high operating costs and conflicts in the region.
This will cost consumers 85 sen more for a kilogram of imported white rice.
Owner of Nasi Kandar Arsyad restaurant Mohd Arsyad Azarin estimated that the price of a meal might go up by between 50 sen and 80 sen at least, with the cost of other ingredients growing too.
He named items such as chicken, red meat, vegetables and ingredients required for making curries. “We are currently absorbing the costs, but how long can we sustain this?” he said.
Mr Habib Shahul Hameed, who owns a nasi kandar restaurant in Kelana Jaya, said he would not pass on the cost hikes to customers just yet.
He is not sure how long he can do so. “The prices of all other food items are already rising. And now, with the price of rice going up, it will make things worse for both restaurant owners and their customers,” he noted.
He added that the government should offer more subsidies or increase the production of rice.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations president N. Marimuthu said the government should have programmes to grow rice instead of relying on imports.
He added that the country should take advantage of its fertile land to reach self-sufficiency.
“In the 1960s and 1970s, we were self-sufficient, but today, we rely on imports from various countries. This shows the decline is getting bad and that our food policy is not sustainable.
“The food import bill has gone up by between RM55 billion and RM60 billion. If the government of the day is not addressing food security issues, then price controls and monitoring will not work,” he added.
Malaysia is not the only country facing a price hike in rice. Other key exporting countries, including Thailand and Vietnam, have seen prices going up by around 20 per cent.
This came in the wake of India, the world’s biggest shipper of the grain, banning the export of a variety of rice in July, tightening global supplies. Traders are now expecting similar supply curbs by other exporters needing to ensure domestic food security, which has left importers scrambling to secure shipments.
In 2022, India already banned exports of broken rice and imposed a duty on shipments of various grades of rice.
Indonesia’s National Food Agency said the El Nino was expected to lead to a decline in domestic rice production, with an estimated drop of around 5 per cent. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
