Malaysian watermelons suffer from weak ringgit

The Malaysian economy is currently suffering from the weak position of its national currency, the ringgit. According to AC Koh of the Malaysian company Golden Aroma, the lower value of the currency has increased the costs of farming. The foreign laborers are asking for more salary. And the current trend was really felt from the second quarter of 2016 onwards. He thinks that the situation will not improve anytime soon.”

Golden Aroma grows and exports watermelons. Apart from the economical issues, the current season has been suffering from adverse weather conditions as well “It’s too cold. The weather in general isn’t favorable for watermelons,” says Koh.

In order to improve on its situation, the company is considering whether to increase its acreage across neighboring countries. “We’ve sent representatives abroad to learn more about the regional weather conditions, the availability of farming lands and what prices these countries have to deal with. We’ll first hold a series of experiments and tests to see what varieties would be best for the soil types of these new regions.”



The season for watermelons in Malaysia is currently in full swing. The main market for Golden Aroma is Hong Kong, followed by Singapore. The peak season for water melons takes place around Ramadan. Demand is high, and as the volumes are lower due to the cold temperatures, prices are on the rise. The main competition for melons would be from Indonesia.

“There is a big demand for small and medium sized watermelons. Retail chains usually want their melons to be small or medium sized, whereas the processing industry would rather have big sizes,” explains Koh.

A major market could be Dubai, but according to Koh, the whole of the Middle Eastern region is currently seeing an economic recession. “Export volumes have been down by 30% and I don’t think this situation will improve before the end of this year.”

All in all, Koh thinks that the current issues for Malaysian watermelons won’t be solved anytime soon.

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