Nghe An: Shipping costs increase to record high, many garden owners face difficulties during Tet season

This is the 4th year that Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, Nghi Phu commune,Vinh Cityflower and ornamental plant business for Tet. After finding a suitable location, she contacted her acquaintances from the southern provinces, especially Da Lat, to import goods to sell for Tet. If the prices of flowers and ornamental plants have been finalized with the supplier, the sudden increase in transportation costs has made her have to "headache" to weigh and measure again from the beginning. Although she rented the location since the beginning of December, up to now, only 1/3 of the quantity of goods has arrived because Ms. Hong could not agree on the price with the shipping company.

Transportation costs have increased, with each truck carrying Tet flowers from the South to Vinh City costing from several million to tens of millions of dong. Photo: Quang An

Ms. Hong said: Her family specializes in trading Da Lat orchids and Tet ornamental plants, mainly imported from the South. Like previous years, this year Ms. Hong plans to import 5,000 plants of all kinds. Shipping costs are not calculated by the number of trips but by the number of containers containing the plants. On average, each container can hold about 20 plants. So, roughly, 5,000 plants will take about 250 containers.

"This year, I received a quote that each crate will cost from 120,000 to 150,000 VND, about 1.5 times higher than previous years. In difficult business times, how can we survive with such a price...", Ms. Hong sighed.

Sharing the same sentiment with Ms. Hong, Mr. Tran Van Nhan, owner of a peach garden selling Tet in Vinh City, said: "I import goods from peach villages in the North to Vinh City to sell Tet. If in previous years, the average cost for each truck trip was from 5 to 7 million VND, this year, the freight cost is approximately 10 million VND/trip. In my ten years of doing business in Tet ornamental plants, I have never seen the freight cost as high as this year...".

The fare for each trip carrying peach blossoms from the North to Vinh City has increased by 3 - 5 million VND compared to last year's Tet. Photo: Quang An

Not only Ms. Hong and Mr. Nhan, but the increased transportation cost is also a common concern of hundreds of garden owners selling Tet ornamental plants in Vinh City at the present time.

According to a survey, the cost of transporting ornamental plants for Tet this year has increased by 30-50% compared to previous years. The number of transport units has also decreased, so although the cost has increased, finding a suitable vehicle to transport the goods is still a problem.

According to garden owners, there are two main reasons for the record high shipping costs in recent years. Firstly, the complicated development of the Covid-19 epidemic has made the transportation of goods in general and Tet ornamental plants in particular more difficult than in previous years. Many shipping units are worried about the epidemic, so they have temporarily suspended long-distance routes, only serving nearby customers, unless they are paid high costs, they will accept to travel during the epidemic season.

The second reason is due to the high fuel prices, gasoline prices of all types are over 22,000 VND/liter, diesel over 17,000 VND/liter (updated January 6, 2022). Therefore, the increase in transportation costs is also predictable.

In addition to transportation costs, garden owners also have to cover costs for goods, premises, labor, etc. Photo: Quang An

Not only facing theshipping costsWith the record increase in goods, garden owners also have to "headache" to calculate other costs such as goods, rent, staff... With people's income decreasing due to the impact of the epidemic, the demand for Tet shopping has decreased, it is expected that flower and ornamental plant garden owners will face a challenging business season ahead.