PETALING JAYA: There is an acute shortage of sugar in the country.Consumers and traders in several states have voiced their frustration in getting supply of the essential commodity, describing the shortage as the “worst so far”.

A check at several grocery shops here revealed that no sugar had been on sale for over a week.

“My last stock came on May 12. My suppliers have not assured me of any new delivery in the next few days,” lamented shopkeeper Abu Hassan Kamal, 53, who called on the Government to resolve the problem, particularly with Ramadan approaching.

“What is the use of a licence to sell sugar when there is no supply?” he asked, referring to the new regulation by the Domestic Trade, Consumerism and Cooperatives Ministry to make retailers apply for a licence to sell the price-controlled item.

In Johor, sundry shop owner Abdul Bahri Abdul Rahman, who has been in the business for the past 20 years in Taman Pelangi, said the shortage was one of the worst he ever experienced.

“Normally I receive about 50 packets of sugar daily. However, the number has been greatly reduced to about 20 packets,” he said, adding that this had been going on for the past three months.

Housewife Tay Jia Xin, 34, said the lack of sugar in the city could have been due to sales to Singaporeans, adding that she had to hunt for it at several shops.

Another housewife, Ngoi Moi, 62, who sells home-made cookies, said she was glad she decided to stock up on sugar a few months ago because evidence of the shortage was very real.

Johor Tourism and Domestic Trade Committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said he had instructed state Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Department director Che Halim Abd Rahman to look into complaints of shortage.

In Negri Sembilan, a shopper, who only wanted to be known as Raja, claimed that a supermarket employee manning the sugar rack told him that the supplier could not meet the outlet’s demand.

“Despite limiting customers to only two 1kg packets, the racks are empty. Even the brown sugar packets are fast running out,” he said, urging enforcement officers not to keep issuing “sugar-coated statements” but go to the ground.

In Penang, state Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Religious Affairs Committee chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said there was no dearth of sugar, adding that it was monitoring the situation closely.

Fomca secretary-general Muhd Sha’ani Abdullah said it had received complaints in various areas including Kuantan, Muar, Klang and Temerloh since a month ago.

He said the problem was not due to retailers hoarding sugar but the smuggling of the item to other countries, especially Thailand.

Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants president Lean Hing Chuan said the shortage nationwide was caused by manufacturers halving production, adding that its members started noticing the slowdown in April.

“Factories might be slowing down their production to keep their costs down until subsidies for sugar are withdrawn,” Lean said.

He also said the federation had decided in a meeting yesterday to clear their stock of the three controlled items – sugar, flour and palm-oil-based cooking oil – by June 15.

“We will not renew our stock because it is not profitable. We make a very small profit margin selling these items,” he said, adding that it would be a hassle to apply for the retail licence.

“I think customers will understand why we have to do this. We want to keep them happy, but we will explain our situation to them.”