Abundant supply, slow consumption

(Baonghean) -Normally, the end of the year is the time when demand for goods increases sharply. To ensure the supply of goods during Tet, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 4974/QD-UBND-TM on the reserve of essential goods for the Lunar New Year 2013. Accordingly, enterprises can borrow capital from banks to buy and reserve the assigned goods, and the provincial budget will support 100% of the interest rate on bank loans.

6 enterprises were assigned to purchase and reserve essential goods for the 2013 Lunar New Year, including: Vietnam-Laos Economic Cooperation Investment Joint Stock Company, Huu Nghi Joint Stock Company, Intimex Joint Stock Company Branch in Nghe An, General Agricultural Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Son Hai Company Limited, Minh Phuong Trading and Service Company Limited; with reserve goods including: 500 tons of rice, 100 tons of sticky rice, 260,000 liters of cooking oil, total value of nearly 16.5 billion VND; to ensure market stability, to prevent sudden price increases.

Ms. Ho Thi Ha - Director of the Vietnam - Laos General Business Center, said: Our company has fully prepared goods to serve the Tet market including 120 tons of rice, 60,000 liters of cooking oil, 300 tons of sugar, 10,000 barrels of beer and 1,000 barrels of wine. Enterprises are ready to fully supply essential goods, only worrying about people not having enough money to shop, not worrying about shortages or price hikes. This year the economy is difficult, so up to this point the market's purchasing power is still very poor, the consumption of goods has decreased by 50% compared to the same period in previous years.



Market consumption has not increased yet near Tet.

For supermarkets, large shopping malls and markets, the supply of food, vegetables and fruits is fully guaranteed for local people. At the two large retail supermarkets in the province, the supply is guaranteed, goods are abundant, fully meeting the consumption needs of customers. Intimex supermarket has reserved 150 tons of rice worth 1.5 billion VND, 50,000 liters of cooking oil worth 1.9 billion VND and 100 tons of sugar worth 1.6 billion VND. BigC supermarket has also reserved 230 tons of rice worth 2.3 billion VND, 75,000 liters of cooking oil worth more than 2.8 billion VND, 160 tons of sugar worth nearly 2.6 billion VND. According to the Department of Industry and Trade, the total amount of goods reserved by supermarkets and shopping malls in the area is equivalent to about 100 billion VND.

At Vinh market, a large commercial center specializing in providing goods for retail markets in the province, all types of goods for Tet have been fully prepared. Mr. Nguyen Binh Minh - Deputy Manager of Vinh market, said: With over 3,000 business households, both wholesale and retail, providing a large amount of goods to district, ward and commune markets every day, from vegetables, fruits, food, dry goods to ready-made clothes. Although the amount of goods is large, this year's consumption has decreased by about 30% compared to the same period in previous years. Essential goods for Tet such as bamboo shoots, fish, dried squid, candy, wine, soft drinks, pumpkin seeds, food, etc. are gathered by small traders to fully meet the needs in terms of variety and quantity.

Ms. Ha Thi Hanh, who specializes in selling confectionery at Vinh market, shared: “This year, business is very difficult, goods are slow to sell, difficult to consume. There are many days when we sit all day without any buyers. It is almost December but the market is still quiet. Because the market is weak, we do not dare to buy a lot of goods for fear of not being able to sell, and after January, it will be even more unsold.”

Ms. Mai Thi Duyen, who sells fish, dried squid, dried beef, tea, nuts, etc., confided: In more than 20 years of trading at Vinh market, I have never seen the market as sluggish as this year. At this time in previous years, on average, 50-100 kg of goods were sold each day. Now, sitting all day, I can only sell about 5 kg of various goods, and some days I can't even sell a single kg. The fish and dried squid have been stored since the beginning of the year, and some packages are moldy and spoiled and cannot be sold. The capital invested in the business is nearly 100 million VND, and with the market being so difficult, we are very anxious. Hopefully, purchasing power will improve in the days leading up to Tet.

Normally, the month before Tet, purchasing power will increase sharply, but this year's situation does not follow this rule. Therefore, businesses and retail kiosks must also consider carefully, closely monitor market developments to prepare appropriate quantities of goods to avoid the situation of goods being stagnant for a long time after Tet. According to the reporter's observations, the market serving Tet this year has no shortage of food, foodstuffs, confectionery, beer, wine, etc., but it is unlikely that purchasing power will increase sharply, and it is likely that people will only focus on buying essential goods. Many agents also only prepare a moderate amount of Tet goods in a cautious manner.

In order to strengthen market inspection and supervision, take measures to control the distribution and purchase of goods, strengthen control of violations of the law on prices, product quality, speculation, hoarding, and illegal price increases in the area, the Department of Industry and Trade issued Official Dispatch No. 945/SCT-QLTM dated October 23, 2012 on stabilizing the market and implementing price regulations, in which it assigned the People's Committees of districts and the Market Management Department to strengthen market inspection and control to limit commercial fraud, smuggling, production and trading of counterfeit and poor quality goods, ensuring market stability before, during and after the Lunar New Year.

Quynh Lan