Rising padi cost pushing major Perlis rice mill towards closure

KANGAR: One of the largest Bumiputera-owned rice mills in Perlis, Kilang Dibuk Sdn Bhd, claims it is at risk of shutting down after suffering millions in losses over the past few years.

Kilang Dibuk Sdn Bhd, located along Jalan Kangar-Alor Setar in Simpang Empat, has long been a key processing facility for more than 10,000 farmers in Perlis.

Managing director Marzhuki Othman, who is also the Malaysian Rice Millers Association chairman, said the 57-year-old factory could no longer sustain itself due to the rising cost of padi purchases, while rice prices remained low.

"In the past two years alone, our operations have suffered losses exceeding RM10 million, including three of our mills. It is devastating. Two of the mills have already shut down, and the last one is on the brink of closure.

"We can no longer cope with the sharp increase in padi purchasing costs, which at one point soared to nearly RM2,000 per metric tonne," he said when contacted.

Marzhuki said the factory had the capacity to process up to 30,000 metric tonnes of padi per season, with 78 employees.

"I can say that out of 127 fully Bumiputera-owned rice mills that have been active since 1998, only nine remain operational.

"This factory is merely counting the days until it shuts down unless an effective step is taken to address outdated policies such as the price control on local white rice, while imported white rice is not subject to any ceiling price.

"The authorities must also stop issuing or allowing licensed padi purchasing centres within a 20-kilometre radius of rice mills.

"This is because these licensed buyers act as 'middlemen' in manipulating the rice market," he claimed.

He further claimed that these middlemen were funded by major rice mills, enabling them to monopolise padi purchases even beyond their designated areas while also increasing the cost of rice production.

"In this situation, rice millers control the entire rice distribution network," he added.