Powdered milk price increase hailed

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The increase in powdered milk prices will benefit importers to continue their business.

"We have confidence to place orders at present and this is a big relief for importers," Nestle Lanka PLC Ambient Dairy Assistant Vice President Asoka Bandara told Daily News Business. "The price increase is good for the time being and there will be further price increases if the world milk powder prices continue to move up," he said. There is a marked increase in world milk powder prices and the country's milk powder importers wanted a price revision to match the escalating cost.

"We are unable to sustain import orders as the price of a metric ton of milk powder has gone up from US $ 3,200 to US $ 4,200 during the past eight months. We are incurring a loss of Rs 118 per kilogram imported and cannot go on any more," Maliban Chief Executive Officer D.L. Weerasuriya said.