REPORTS BY： Arfa Yunus, Teh Athira Yusof and Sarah Rahim
MYCC REPORT
1KAN RAKWT PRICES
SKYROCKET
p
.i
Jettyownersthenmarkupthe pricetobetweenRM12andRM14 per kg when selling to whole
salerswho,inturn,sellthecatch to several distributors before reachingretailers.
Whenthecatchreachedretail
ers, consumers had to pay be
tweenRM15andRM17perkg.
The report said the transac
tions and market volume were
ONSUMERS are paying not transparent, and the price Retailers areselling ikan kembungfor between RM15 andRM17per kg.(Inset)Traders at the Kuala toohighapriceforikan fluctuated accordingto supply LumpurWholesaleMarketarebelievedtohavetheupperhandindictatingfishprices, filepix
kembung, dubbed the anddemand.
ikanrakyat,thankstoa Themiddlemenhadtheupper tionhubforPeninsularMalaysia, +supply chain of multiple inter- hand in creating an artificial Sabah,Sarawakandabroad,
mediaries,whichresultedinthe shortage,leadingtopricehikes.
fishbeingmarkedupto almost itsaidtheconceptofikanraky- report,hadtheadvantageofde- MyCC saidtherewasno mon- 300percentofitsoriginalvalue, athadcreatedaperceptionofthe terminingmarketsupplyandvol- itoringorregulatingofthisprac-
The Malaysia Competition constantavailabilityofikankem- ume,andsubsequentlyinfluenc- ticeandthoseinvolvedwerefree ingfishpricesatothermarkets. todosowithoutpenalty.
ketReviewonFoodSectorreport, Thishadledtoahighdemand Thereportalsosaidtechnology Toaddressthisissue,thereport said the cost of a fisherman’s for the fish, pushing its prices wasbeingusedtotheadvantage highlighted the need for more catchofikankembungwasabout higher than otherfish and ofwholesalersanddistributorsto choices among consumers. It seafood. fixpricesandreaphugeprofits. said the government needed to Uponlanding,thecatchissold Another issue was the role of The catch was sometimes promotefrozen fish asan alter- to jetty owners for between the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale frozen and kept for up to three nativetofreshfish.
Besides that, MyCC recom-
The influence of middlemen shoots up ikan kembung
prices by 300pc I
KUALA LUMPUR
c
wouldWhentakepricesoutincreased,the catch totheybeThe traders at PBKL, said the soldas“fresh”fish.
mended to consolidate existing policies on
tivesintooneunifiedstructure.
Continuous support was also neededforagriculturalstart-ups withinnovativebusinessmodels.
Thereportcitedtheexampleof astart-upinChina,worth10bil
lionyuan(RM5.96billion)inval
uation this year, received the backingofinvestmentfirmsand ultimatelydisruptingtraditional wholesalingin Chinabycutting outthemiddlemen..
initia- e-commerce
Commission(MyCC), initsMar- bunginthemarket.
RM6.50perkg.
RM7.50andRM8.50perkg. Market(PBKL)asakeydistribu- weekswhenpriceswerelow.
