Sugar Prices to Drop From Sept 1, Minister Hopes Prices of Food & Drinks Will Lower Too

If you have a sweet tooth, then this might just be good news for you! The government has announced that starting from September, the ceiling price for coarse granulated sugar and refined granulated sugar will be cheaper by 10 sen per kg.

The Star reported that come September 1, the new price for coarse granulated sugar will be RM2.85 per kg, while fine granulated sugar is set at RM2.95 per kg. The last time that the sugar price was revised, it was on March 1, 2017 when the price rose 11 sen to RM2.95 per kg.

Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail explained that the drop in price was because the price of raw sugar had decreased globally and also due to the rise in living costs in Malaysia. That’s true, everything is so expensive now! 

“Due to the falling trend in the price of raw sugar globally, as well as the price of sugar in the domestic market in neighbouring countries, the government has decided to reduce the ceiling price of sugar. This is also taking into consideration the rise in living costs in Malaysia, which is caused by the rise in costs of goods,” he said.

Saifuddin said that he hoped this meant businesses would take the lower price into consideration and reduce the prices of food and beverages in the market. You heard the man, business owners! However, he said that this doesn’t mean that the people should take it as an encouragement to consume more sugar.

“We must remind the public that excessive sugar consumption will increase health risks such as diabetes, obesity and heart problems. In 2016, over 3.6 million Malaysians aged 18 and above were diabetic. This number will continue to increase if we do not take any measures to control sugar consumption,” he said. These statistics are no joke!

Let’s hope that this will lead to a decrease in the prices of our food and beverages!

 

Also read: Malaysia Has The Highest Rate Of Diabetes in Asia & Half Of M’sians Don’t Even Know They’re Diabetic