CASKET and coffin factories are rushing to meet increased orders due to the high number of Covid-19 deaths but are facing labour and raw materials shortages due to lockdown restrictions, manufacturers said.

They told The Malaysian Insight they are dealing with the situation by temporarily stopping work on orders for export so as to focus on fulfilling local demand.

Kedah-based Aim Strong Industries Sdn Bhd, which manufactures coffins, saw an uptick in orders when Covid-19 deaths began to rise in late April.

“We had orders for about 1,000 non-Muslim coffins a month in April. Now orders have since increased by 450 units each monthly,” director Lim Sze Yan said.

“The factory is now making 1,450 coffins per month. Demand mostly comes from the Klang Valley, where Covid-19 cases and deaths are highest.

The year started with three deaths on January 1. Over the following four months, deaths climbed to double digits.

The number of fatalities started climbing again from the last week of April, breaching the 100-mark for the first time on June 2 with 126 deaths.

The highest daily death toll was 135 on July 8. There have been 6,385 cumulative deaths nationwide since the pandemic’s onset, as of yesterday.

Last June was considered the deadliest month to date, with 2,374 people dying from Covid-19. For the first 12 days of July, there have been 1,090 deaths.

Lim said due to the sharp increase in deaths, bodies remain in hospital morgues until the arrival of the coffins, upon which they can be buried or cremated.

Affected by 60% workers SOP

The lockdown’s standard operating procedure (SOP) only allow for 60% of workers, affecting coffin production, Lim said.

Another rule under the SOP, which does not list wood processing plants as essential services, is causing a shortage of raw materials and impacting the supply chain to coffin manufacturers, he added.

He estimated that in his factory in Kedah, the supply of raw materials can only last for another month.

“As such, we are prioritising the local market and delaying foreign orders. There are still orders and enquiries coming in from Thailand, Brunei, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong,” Lim said.

Another coffin production plant in Ipoh, Changann Industries Sdn Bhd, is also facing the same predicament.

Senior marketing executive Aaron Seoh said many customers are chasing their coffin orders.

“Orders have increased significantly since Chinese New Year,” he said, adding that the coffins made for Covid-19 deceased are usually for cremation.

He said the manpower shortage is causing the factory to cut monthly output from 600 coffins to 500.

“If we really push it, we can reach 700 coffins. Most of them are supplied to Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Johor.

“For now, we have suspended shipments to Singapore and a part of Brunei, too.”

Seoh said Changann learnt from the first movement-control order (MCO) to hoard raw materials in advance ahead of the current MCO.

“In March last year, the coffin factory had to stop due to a shortage of raw materials.

“So, before the government announced the MCO this year, we stockpiled raw materials and wood,” Seoh said.

“Even so, the current stockpile will only last another two months.

“If, after these two months, wood processing factories and other factories producing raw materials in the supply chain are not fully operational, we may have a severe shortage,” Seoh said.

Orders for Changann have increased by 30% to 50% periodically, mostly from the Klang Valley.

The labour and raw materials shortage will also cause a rise in the prices for coffins by 10% to 30%, manufacturers added.

Funeral services

Along with demand for coffins is the high number of funeral services, Nirvana Care general manager Teh Khai Lin said of non-Muslim funerals.

There was a marked increase in requests for services in May and June, he said.

After the pandemic emerged last year, Nirvana Care conducted only 12 Covid-related funerals for Klang Valley customers from March to December 2020.

Yet, in four months alone, from January to April this year, they handled 57 funeral services, with numbers rising still, 76 services in May and 73 last month, said Teh.

“Funeral service employees have to work overtime, especially if the deceased was a Covid-19 patient, as we cannot increase manpower especially for a high-risk funeral,” he said.

Other undertakers in Johor and Selangor also reported a sharp increase in the number of funerals they have handled.

A funeral planner who wanted to be known as Yap, and who works for a funeral service provider company called SKC in Sekinchan, Selangor, said his company handled funerals in the Kuala Selangor area almost daily without a break from April to May. Many of them were Covid-19 deaths.

In Ulu Tiram, Johor, the owner of Wan Sheng Undertakers, Ang Kim Hua, said his company handled mostly Covid-19-related deaths between March and June.

The higher number of Covid-19 deaths of late has been attributed to newer virus mutations that are more virulent.

Health officials have said that more patients are being admitted at Categories 4 or 5, which means they will require respiratory assistance.

The newer strains are also affecting more young people compared with last year. – July 14, 2021.