Following the announcement on the possible reduction or halt of egg exports due to a shortage in its domestic supply, Malaysia has decided to also to cease exporting shrimp and four species of fish from 1 Jan to 28 Feb next year.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub was reported by Bernama as saying on Monday (17 Dec) that the reason behind stopping the export of the four species of fish — mackerel, Indian mackerel, pomfret, and trevally — and shrimp is that the domestic market experiences a shortage during monsoon, as well as the festive seasons.
This would typically fall around Chinese New Year, (5 Feb) where a rise in the price of the pomfret can be observed as a result of an increase in demand.
Last week, Malaysia’s Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s announced that the country might consider the reduction or halt its egg exports as a means of preserving a steady supply for the domestic market.
However, Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) maintains that although Singapore’s importers are still getting their usual egg supplies” mainly “from Malaysia,” the Authority’s “food diversification strategy” also entails having a broad selection of sources for the Republic’s egg supply.
AVA noted that 73 per cent of Singapore’s market for eggs consisted of eggs imported from Malaysia in 2017 alone, and approximately a quarter of the egg supply in Singapore is produced by local farms.
