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HCM City: petrol prices down, food prices skyrocket
Despite the sharp decreases in petrol prices, the price of most commodities in HCM City, especially fresh food, have been skyrocketing, creating surprise for everyone.
On November 15, the day the petrol price decrease of VND 1,000/litre was announced, the price of spinach jumped to VND 10,000/kg at the market, in the centre of district 4, from its previous price of VND 4-5,000/kg. Phuong Thao, a housewife, said that she could not imagine such a sharp increase.
On November 16, Tien phong’s reporters found out that the price of vegetables and monosodium glutamate (MSG) all increased considerably from the previous week.
At Ba Chieu market in Binh Thanh district, the retail prices of vegetables all increased by VND 500-1,000/kg. Vedan MSG increased by VND 700,000 to VND 815,000/25 kg pack, while Ajinomoto increased from VND 18,000 to VND 19,500/0.5kg pack.
At Binh Dien wholesale market, most types of vegetable saw prices surge by VND 800-8,200/kg.
Wholesalers and retailers said that higher purchasing power has pushed the prices up. Meanwhile, analysts believe that prices will keep rising this week as the purchasing power is expected to increase on Vietnam’s Teacher Day on November 20.
Only a few commodity items have seen prices decrease. The vegetable oil price, for example, has dropped by VND 10,000/5 litre bottle, while the price of sugar and some other products have also slightly decreased.
The commodity that has seen the sharpest price decrease is rice, with the lowest price currently at VND 6,500/kg. However, the price decrease has been explained not by the petrol price decrease, but by difficulties in consumption.
Analysts have pointed out that the price of commodities at this moment does not depend on the petrol price, but on supply and demand.
Nguyen Thi Hong Huong, Director of Vinatex supermarket chain, said that it is difficult to predict price performance, as pricing depends on many factors, not only petrol price. This explains why the vegetable prices have increased sharply, while people thought they would decrease in accordance with the petrol price decreases.
Huong said that producers and supplies of key consumer products have been hesitant in setting prices and the volume of products to be reserved for Tet sale.
Huong said that in previous years, sales from Vinatex increased in November, but the increase has not yet been seen this year.
Tien phong
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