8 October 2021 05:05 pm
The decision on increasing the prices of the imported milk powder will be announced on Monday (11), the Milk Powder Importers said.
A spokesman for the importers told the Daily Mirror that they had received US$ 1.1 million to clear their containers stranded at the Colombo Port. There are 16 milk powder containers to be released from the port on Monday. The cleared consignment of milk powder will be released to the market by Wednesday (13).
However, the importers said that they are considering increasing the 1 kg of imported milk powder pouch between Rs.250 and Rs.300.
In the earlier discussions with the government and Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA), it had come to a conclusion that the milk powder importers would increase the price of 1 kg of imported milk powder by Rs.200 and the 400 gram milk powder packet by Rs.80.
However, the importers requested a Rs.350 price hike of a 1 kg milk powder pouch as the global market prices and the shipping costs have increased and due to the depreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) against the US dollar, milk powder importers have repeatedly requested for a price revision.
Later, considering the financial losses incurred by the importers, they decided to suspend their imports. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)