CHINESE funerals will cost more soon as the price of materials increase, industry players said.

The prices of coffins, joss sticks and tombstones are expected to rise 10-25%.

Coffins alone already cost three times more as a result of a wood shortage.

Since 2021 until now, price increase three times.

Aim Strong Industries Sdn Bhd director Lim Sze Yan told The Malaysian Insight that the price of imported timber has risen up to 30% while local timber can cost 40% more.

Lim said the price of paint used for coffins has risen 70%.

“The prices of raw materials are usually consistent but now it goes up every two months. This was not the case before the pandemic,” Lim said.

Costs began rising last year but manufacturers only started adjusting prices in January. By June, Lim said prices had gone up third times.

Lim said manufacturers have also had to adjust prices due to the minimum wage hike and the depreciation of the ringgit.

He said manufacturers have faced a foreign labour shortage.

“We have postponed a lot of foreign orders to meet domestic demand first. Before the pandemic, my processing plant could produce 1,500 to 1,600 coffins per month, but now it can only produce 1,000 coffins per month, mainly due to the lack of workers,” he said.

“One after another, the foreign workers in my processing plant are returning to home country every month and there are no new workers to replace them. Output will naturally decrease and we cannot accept new orders from abroad.”

Nirvana Memorial Park Sdn Bhd Central Region COO Lee Jye Chyi said tombstones cost 5-10% more due to lockdowns in China.

She said all costs in the funeral service industry, including for transport, have increased.

“The price of coffins has risen by more than a few hundred ringgit. The industry is facing the pressure of cost prices. The new minimum wage has also increased costs. We are considering whether to adjust the price.

“All sectors are affected by inflation, and industry players can only temporarily absorb the increased costs. We hope that the general environment can improve and reduce the pressure on the service industry.”

Ashes in the sea

Pusat Keranda Fook Loke Sau owner Thung Siew Ching said some companies are reluctant to raise prices despite higher costs.

“We are adjusting and measuring the products of various funeral services to decide how much to adjust the price. A price increase is certain but it must be reasonable, and the family also needs to know why the price has gone up.”

She said that the average cost of burial services has risen by RM300 and the cost of cremation by RM150.

As such, Thung said many customers are choosing simpler funeral ceremonies. She said more are now opting to scatter the ashes into the sea.

“They buy a coffin for cremation and then scatter the ashes into the sea.” – June 21, 2022.