Quoting The Daily, The Star reports National Pork Sellers Association secretary Lim Choon Chiang as saying that most pork sellers were from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor, who had their days off on Monday and Wednesday every week.

"If the sale of pork does not pick up soon, we will have to take off on Friday as well," he said, adding that despite the increase in ex-farm price several times over, many pork sellers were not allowed to review their price.

"Most of the time, we just absorb the extra costs," Mr Lim said.

He said the public had the impression that pork sellers were earning a lot from the increase in ex-farm prices when the truth was they were not generating any profit at all.

"Normally, pork sellers would have to sell off the entire pig to see profit. But if we cannot even manage to sell off our stock, we may as well just rest one more day," he said.

Federation of Hawkers and Petty Traders Associations president Datuk Chai Soo Min said most hawkers were not increasing the prices of their food despite the increase in ex-farm price for pigs.

He added that they were likely to replace pork with chicken to reduce costs.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob warned that the Government would consider making pork a controlled item if the ex-farm price of pig continued to increase.

"We will consider making it a controlled item during festive seasons if the price continues to jump as it has become a burden," he said.