KUALA LUMPUR: In light of India banning the export of onions until March 2024, Malaysia will turn to Pakistan and China for alternatives to balance and maintain the price of the commodity in the country.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said it will not have much effect on the commodity's market price.
"We have alternatives (to India). We will try to get (imports) from China and Pakistan, and we are already prepared for that," he told reporters after launching the Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Youth national convention today.
This came after it was reported that India is banning onion exports to boost domestic supply.
On Oct 29, Bernama reported that India restricted export of onions by imposing a minimum export price of US$800 per tonne.
The fixed floor price came into effect on Sunday and will be maintained until the end of this year.
The government is also procuring an additional 200,000 tonnes of onion to boost its buffer stocks.
It has been offloading onion from the buffer stock since the second week of August to keep retail prices under control.
India had imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions in August.
Onion prices in the Delhi region have risen by up to 50 per cent in recent days and are expected to soar more than 40 per cent next month from the current levels, according to media reports in India.