Buying milk is getting expensive in India and the price could soon hit an all-time high, forcing the world's biggest producer to step up imports to boost supplies and ease cost of living pressures.
Farmers are wrestling with a rare double whammy: a lethal condition called lumpy skin disease in their cows and a drawdown in market-ready cattle stock after the coronavirus pandemic slowed breeding.
Milk prices have already jumped more than 15% to 56 rupees ($0.68) a litre over the past year - the fastest rise in a decade - making it difficult for the government to bring retail inflation below the central bank's target.
The soaring prices of milk and other basic goods is expected to become a political issue heading into state elections later this year.
"Any upside risk coming from higher milk prices is going to pose an additional challenge," said Upasna Bhardwaj, chief economist at India's Kotak Mahindra Bank.
"Since milk has a weightage of 6.6% in the consumer price index, any spike could have a reasonable implication on headline inflation," she said.
Industry officials estimate demand for dairy products to rise 7% this year.
But milk production is likely to have risen just 1% in the fiscal year to March 2023, well below the average annual rate of 5.6% in the past decade, said a senior official of the government-backed National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). The official declined be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Ramavatar Sharma, a 57-year-old farmer from Khejri Bujurg village in Rajasthan, a major milk-producing state, is keen to cash in on higher milk prices but is struggling to find affordable cattle.
"Cattle prices have doubled as there are fewer cows in the market," said Sharma, who has been raising cattle since childhood.
That contrasts with recent years when prices dived in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. While cows were cheaper, coronavirus lockdowns weighed on milk consumption.
Those losses prevented farmers from increasing herds, which restricted milk stock even during the so-called flush season runs from October to February, when dairies build supply for the lean season.
Farmers and dairy managers say they now have to wait until the next flush season in October to ramp up market-ready cattle stocks and dairy products inventory.
"There is no way we can raise milk production in 2023," said Santosh Sharma, general manager of Saras Dairy, a leading supplier in Rajasthan.
Devendra Shah, chairman of Parag Milk Foods (PAMF.NS) in Maharashtra state, said the rare surge in milk prices during the flush season has created unusual market pressure, especially in the peak summer months.
"We will witness further rises in milk prices during summer," Shah said.
Those pressures mean India will rely more on imported SMP, farmers and dairy officials said, further tightening global supplies and setting off a rally in international prices.
India's SMP imports are likely to hit an all-time high in the fiscal year that started April, surpassing record purchases in 2011-12, dairy industry officials said.
To ease the burden, the government could allow limited duty-free imports of SMP and butter, although it would need to manage volumes to avoid crashing prices, the NDDB official said.
In January, India's milk and cream imports jumped 1,024% from the last year to $4.87 million, even with import taxes, as dairies increased purchases from France, Germany and Poland.
The temporary removal of those duties would mean imports rise even further, the NDDB official said.
Lumpy skin disease, which causes blisters and reduces milk production in cows, has infected millions of cattle and killed more than 184,000 in India, including around 76,000 in Rajasthan, according to government data.
Farmers in Rajasthan who managed to protect their cattle through vaccinations now complain about lower incomes as the disease has left them with low-yielding cattle.
"Even the cows that survived after spending a lot of money on medicines and vaccination are now producing less milk than earlier," Sharma said, pointing to one of his cows with lacerations caused by the disease.
Cattle breeding suffered during pandemic lockdowns due to a shortage of the village-level veterinarians needed to conduct artificial insemination.
The supply problems are already squeezing Indian consumers.
"Just to ensure that our children get milk, we have stopped adding milk to our tea," said Satyendra Yadav, a Mumbai construction worker. "But any further price rises will make milk out of our reach." (Reuters)
Malaysia is seeking to decriminalise suicide attempts, its law minister said on Tuesday, the latest in a recent slew of legal reforms pursued by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government.
The announcement comes a day after Malaysia's parliament on Monday voted to remove the mandatory death penalty, trim the number of offences punishable by death, and abolish natural-life prison sentences.
The law currently stipulates that anyone attempting suicide can be jailed for up to one year, fined, or both.
The government wants to repeal that but will retain "aiding and abetting" suicide as a criminal offense, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said said in a statement on Tuesday.
The government also proposes strengthening punishment for cases of aiding suicide involving children and mentally incapacitated people.
"This is based on the fact that suicide attempts are within the scope of suicidal behavior and this act is the impact of mental incapacity or psychiatric disorder," Azalina said.
In comments made last year, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia had in 2021 recorded 1,142 suicide cases, compared to 631 cases in 2020.
Its suicide mortality rate was at 5.7 per 100,000 population in 2019, according to the most recent data from World Bank.
The proposal to decriminalise suicide attempts was introduced in the lower house on Tuesday, though a vote will likely only take place in the next parliament session, a law ministry spokesperson said.
Azalina said the government hopes the reform will encourage those affected to seek help, remove the stigma of suicide, and lower the country's suicide death rate. (Reuters)
Jakarta (voinews): Vice President Ma'ruf Amin called on Minister of Youth and Sports, Dito Ariotedjo, to formulate strategic steps to improve the sports and youth sector during the remaining term of his cabinet until 2024.
"Even though only one and a half years are left, it is enough to take strategic steps," he noted during his working visit to Semarang, Central Java, as quoted from a press release received here, Tuesday.
In the youth sector, the vice president urged Ariotedjo to reorganize and optimize the functions and roles of various youth organizations.
“Many youth organizations are still fragmented. We must be able to optimize the function of youth organizations in the country," he stated.
In the sports sector, Amin called on the newly appointed minister to streamline and complete various sports achievement improvement programs, especially referring to the National Sports Grand Design (DBON) established by the government.
According to Vice President Amin, although sports in Indonesia have begun to be well-organized with the existence of DBON, the sector still need to be supported by a more tangible breakthrough.
"Therefore, I hope Minister Ariotedjo can bring new breakthroughs that are stronger, bigger, and more visible," he affirmed.
He believes that Ariotedjo, as a youth figure, will be more enthusiastic in continuing efforts to increase national sports achievements as outlined in the DBON.
"Usually the young ones are more enthusiastic, especially to continue what has been initiated regarding the issue of sports coaching. I hope he can complete what has been outlined in the DBON and improve the youth sector," he remarked.
Earlier, Ariotedjo spoke of having received three specific directions related to sports from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Firstly, the president urged him to efficiently prepare the Indonesian team for the SEA Games and Asian Games.
"There are three points outlined by President Jokowi. In SEA Games and Asian Games, he asked me to prioritize sports that have the potential to win medals. Hence, we have to be efficient to get the best result," he stated.
Secondly, President Jokowi called on Ariotedjo to massively promote sports leagues at the school and college level, including inter-village leagues for the community.
"Third, the president is very concerned and wants the Indonesian sports industry ecosystem to develop and become more established," he stated.
As for the youth sector, the head of state is optimistic that youth development would be prioritized in entrepreneurship and professionalism with the achievement of the youth development index that continues to grow, Ariotedjo noted. (Antaranews)
Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 51.9 in March 2023 from 51.2 the previous month, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global.
The nation’s PMI surpassed that of the world's largest manufacturing center, that is China (50.0), and was higher than that of ASEAN (51.0), Malaysia (48.8), Vietnam (47.7), Taiwan (48.6), Japan (49.2), South Korea (47.6), the United Kingdom (48.0), the United States (49.3), and Germany (44.4).
"The expansion phase in March helped extend the period of improvement in the condition of our manufacturing industry for 19 consecutive months. Moreover, the PMI growth rate in March was the fastest since last September," Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, said in a statement issued in Jakarta on Monday.
The minister said that the expansion rate of Indonesia's manufacturing PMI was in line with the results of the March 2023 Industrial Confidence Index (IKI), which also expanded to 51.87.
"Manufacturing PMI and IKI in March 2023 both show that the expansion position is supported by increasing new domestic demand. We are optimistic; with the acceleration in the realization of spending on domestic products, new requests will increase in the next period," he explained.
Kartasasmita said he is expecting the increase in domestic demand to encourage increased output and employment. In addition, vendor performance has increased and transportation has improved.
As a result, raw material inventories have increased and production constraints have reduced.
"This has spurred industrial performance to complete orders more quickly," he explained.
Even though input costs are still increasing, the industry is no longer passing on the increase to the price of products.
Thus, it can be concluded that the PMI expansion cannot be separated from the increase in companies’ internal performance and the government's efforts to maintain the domestic market and improve the industrial business climate.
In addition, supply constraints in Indonesia's manufacturing sector eased further in March, resulting in shorter order fulfillment time. This was supported by better supplier and transportation performance.
Therefore, the Ministry of Industry is focusing on boosting productivity in the industrial sector while strengthening the domestic market by optimizing the use of local products and import substitution.
This effort is in accordance with a direction issued by President Joko Widodo at a domestic product business matching event some time ago.
According to Widodo, the purchase of local products can boost national economic growth and support industrial competitiveness in the country. (Antaranews)