Prices of goods in Vietnam trend up after Dong devaluation

Prices of goods and services in Vietnam have been reported rising after the adjustment of the benchmark exchange rate from the VND18,544 to VND18,932 to a dollar on August 18.

Prices of goods and services in Vietnam have been reported rising after the adjustment of the benchmark exchange rate from the VND18,544 to VND18,932 to a dollar on August 18.

Imported goods increases considerably

Do Duy Thai, General Director of Thep Viet Company, said that the company raised its steel prices by VND300,000 per ton because the petrol price hike and the exchange rate’s adjustment made production cost climb, adding that the company was still having a loss of VND700,000/ton.

Nguyen Tien Nghi, Deputy- Chairman of Vietnam Steel Association, shared that steel producers hadn’t raised the steel prices sharply because the consumption of steel slowed down in the recent time.

However, the steel prices will unavoidably increase in the coming time following the dong devaluation as it makes imported steel ingot more expensive.

In addition, the retail prices of domestic gas have increased by VND4,000 per 12 kilo cylinder on August 19. This increase is also affected by the recent adjustment of exchange rate. The gas firms said that prices of both imported gas and gas produced in the country are quoted in the USD reference.

The gas firms have to make payment in refer to daily dollar exchange rate, which certainly boosts gas prices higher after the exchange rate move, Le Phuc Dai, General Director of Dai Viet said.

Le Vi Dong, Deputy director of An Phat Telecommunication company, urged that the company had to increase the prices of its electronics by 2% because it the company bought USD exchange rate quoted at VND19,600 instead of VND19,200.

Other electronics centers in Ho Chi Minh City(HCM) said that prices of household electronics appliances increased by 2%, refrigeration electronics by 3%, laptop up from 5% to 7%, LCD TV up VND1 million/set after the currency weakening.

Super markets in HCM City said that prices of household plastic products increased by 4%, garment up 10%, food stuffs raised from 5% to 10%, etc.

Huynh Huu Tuan, manger of Citimart, shared that suppliers had announced that they would increase prices of goods in the coming time because of higher input prices.

Goods which less depend on the exchange rate such as vegetables and fruits, fresh meat also have increased. In the wholesale markets in HCM City, prices of fruits and vegetables rose from VND500 to VND1,000 per kg such as cauliflower(VND13,500/kg),tomato(VND7,700/kg),carrot(VND11,700/kg),etc. In retail markets, prices of these goods also raised by VND3,000-VND5,000 a kg. – Stoxplus

Tags: Vietnam dong devaluation, Vietnam finance, Vietnam financial