Compiled by C. ARUNO, KHOO GEK SAN and R. ARAVINTHAN
DURIAN exporters are expected to lose up to RM50mil due to poor global demand this year, reported China Press.
Malaysia Durian Exporters Association president Sam Tan said the country currently holds more than 1,000 tonnes of Musang King from the last season in June, causing prices to plummet from RM70 to just RM35 to RM40 per kilo.
Selling it at the current market price would mean exporters will suffer a loss of between RM40mil and RM50mil, he said.
He added that the sluggish demand was due to China’s ‘Zero Covid-19’ policy, although he expects demand to pick up in the third quarter of 2023 as Covid-19 restrictions are gradually lifted in China.
Tan said it was made worse by poor economic conditions worldwide.
As December was also a harvest month for Musang King durians, Tan said exporters were frantically looking for international buyers while still stocking up on the fruit.
Tan said he was looking to speak with the Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu to find a solution.
> Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau and his wife are believed to be spending more than HK$149,600 (RM84,509) a year on their 11-year-old daughter’s education after the school she attended was revealed recently, China Press also reported.
The 61-year-old actor was recently spotted attending his daughter Hanna’s performance at the Victoria Shanghai Academy, one of the most expensive schools in Hong Kong.
The school charges HK$149,600 for primary school years, HK$168,100 to HK$169,600 (RM94,959 to RM95,807) for its middle school years, and HK$210,060 (RM118,663) for its diploma programme.
Parents are also required to pay HK$60,000 (RM33,894) to purchase a debenture or a one-off refundable capital levy to support the school’s development.
Lau married Malaysian model Carol Chu. Hanna is their only child.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
