Prices of goods witnessed sharp increases last week

Last week was the period which witnessed the sharpest increases of goods of different kinds. The sugar price has increased unreasonably, while the gas price has reached the record high, and steel manufacturers also attempted to raise sale prices.

Sugar price increased unreasonably. Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper reported that the market witnessed the sugar price increasing continuously last week. The sugar refineries in the south once pushed the prices up to 19,200-19,500 dong per kilo, while the retail price soared to 21,000 dong per kilo.

As such, the sugar price has increased by 30 percent in comparison with the same period last year and by 3.9 percent in comparison with earlier this year. Meanwhile, the sugar price in 2009 increased by 60-80 percent since 2008.

Explaining the high sugar prices, Nguyen Thanh Long, Chair of the Vietnam Sugar Cane and Sugar Association, who is also General Director of Can Tho Sugar Refinery, said producers are setting sale prices after considering the world’s prices.

“Since August 2010, the sugar price in Thailand has been staying firmly at $800-850 per ton. If importing sugar from Thailand, the cost price would be 18,000 dong per kilo after tax and expenses,” Long said.

Gas prices have made new records. According to Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam, the retail gas prices have increased by another 25,000-26,000 dong per 12 kilo tank. Saigon Petro, Thai Duong Gas and Gia Dinh Gas have informed that their products are selling at 297-326,000 dong per tank.

“The gas price in the world increased by $92.5 per ton in November to $795 per ton. Meanwhile, the dollar price increase has also led to the retail price increases,” explained Le Minh Hieu, General Director of Thai Duong Gas.

Steel prices moving up. Also according to Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam, structural steel is selling at 13.2-13.85 million dong per ton. Nguyen Tien Nghi, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Steel Association, said that steel manufacturers have to raise sale prices because the steel ingot and scrap steel prices have increased slightly after a long period of staying firmly at $580-600 and $390-400 per ton, respectively. Besides, the more expensive dollar has forced manufacturers, who have to pay dollars for import materials, to raise sale prices.

The demand on the market has bounced back after a period of low purchasing demand. It is estimated that the sale in October would reach 390,000 tons, much higher than 283,000 tons in September.

Coffee prices have caused surprise. Domestic forecasters earlier last week predicted that the coffee price would rise slightly. However, in fact, the prices soared very quickly.

According to Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon, the wholesale coffee price in Dak Lak on October 28 jumped to 33,600 dong per kilo. Meanwhile, the export price at the ports in HCM City has soared to $1810 per ton after the trading price in London increased to $1910 per ton. As such, the export price has increased by another $230 per ton just within one week.

The director of a coffee company in Dak Lak said businessmen have been very surprised with the rapid increases of coffee prices. Prior to that, the coffee and cocoa association said that the prices would increase only for a few days.

The gold price has increased by 3.7 percent. According to CafeF, the gold price in the world increased by 3.7 percent in October 2010, when the dollar value decreased by 1.9 percent. – Vietnamnet

Tags: Vietnam prices