The increase in fuel prices is hitting the business hard as manufacturing companies are now paying double the fuel price to operate their production plants.
Food Processors Fiji Limited acting chief executive officer Vinal Chand told this newspaper that increases in the fuel prices was having an impact on production costs and output.
He said the company now paid double the fuel price to operate their production plant.
“If I mention the fuel price to operate our boiler, it’s done by diesel. The diesel price is going up twice the normal price,” Mr Chand said in an interview.
“The price per unit has increased and all the production that’s done on our site is diesel-generated that is used to produce the goods and that is where the price of the fuel is affecting it.”
He added that to source out raw materials, the company sent their trucks to the villages to get their production materials, which also affected the cost of the transportation of goods.
Mr Chand said although the cost had gone up, the company had not increased their product prices which was also impacting on the business.
He said thhe margins were dropping.
He added to mitigate those challenges, the company had prioritised their production line.
“We are producing things that are on high demand and with a mass production so that we can minimise the cost.”
He said the company was also trying to bring in labourers as and when required when they have full production capacity – to minimise costs and to keep the plant operating.
