KUALA LUMPUR: MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd plans to export its latest addition to its Gula Prai lineup, premium white sugar Gula Super, to neighbouring countries next year.
Group chief executive officer Syed Feizal Syed Mohammad said MSM is mainly targeting Singapore for now due to the close proximity between its factory in Johor and the city-state.
"Will look towards pushing out the Gula Super into export markets and most likely it will be around the neighbouring countries.
"We are targeting Singapore because Gula Super is largely produced in Johor. Being located in Johor, we have all the production and infrastructure to be able to market into Singapore. We target to penetrate neighbouring countries at least within next year," he told reporters at the launch of Gula Prai here today.
He said MSM is currently exporting its sugar to 17 countries mainly in Asia Pacific, Pakistan and the Middle East.
The volume is expected to increase to 10,000 tonnes a month next year from the current volume of between 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes.
"The growth curve for the production is quite healthy as it grew from 1,000 tonnes in May to between 5,000 and 6,000 tonnes per month now.
"We believe with a bit more marketing strategy, we will get there (10,000 tonnes) by next year but I am not sure within the first or second half of the year," he said.
Gula Super has been available for sale nationwide since May at a recommended retail price of RM4.60 for a one kilogramme pack.
On the industry as a whole, he said the government needs to address concerns on the ceiling price of sugar especially amid the rise in other costs and inflationary pressures.
"When we produce one kilogram of our coarse grain sugar there is a negative margin and the government understands the industry cannot prolong or rather face this issue. It requires an address. We believe that the government will address this issue soon enough.
"We have been engaging with the government in the last 29 months as a joint industry so there has been a lot of hardwork and more than 50 meetings but we are getting there," he added.
Commenting on the recent announcement of the company's chief financial officer going on garden leave, he said it was regarding a governance matter.
"This is a governance matter and has nothing to do with financials," Syed Feizal said without elaborating further.
On Nov 3, 2023, MSM announced that Dr Mazatul 'Aini Shahar Abdul Malek Shahar is on garden leave from Oct 20 until Dec 15 to facilitate an ongoing internal investigation.