Prices for Tet goods stabilized, except one
Prices for Tet goods stabilized, except one
Though the city government has pledged to maintain stable prices for commodities ahead of the Tet holiday, and has tried to keep its word with the recent penalties on egg producers, the leading Vietnamese beer maker appears to be disobedient.
Sabeco trading one-member Co Ltd (Satraco), a subsidiary of the Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco), in mid-January announced a 5 percent increase in prices for its three best-selling beer products, the red-labeled Saigon beer bottle, the "Saigon Special" beer bottle and "333" beer.
Sabeco, in which the state holds a 89.6 percent stake after its equitization in 2008, dominates the local market with a 47.5 percent market share as of the end of 2011.
As soon as the wholesale prices were adjusted, the retail prices of those products were also increased, by VND10,000-15,000 per 20 or 24-bottle crate/pack.
Sabeco has allowed Satraco to extend the invoices and delivery time to the end of the month for customers who had placed orders before the new pricing policy took effect.
With other preferential policies, like giving the green light for its wholesalers to buy more beer within their one-week sale limits, and rescheduling the payment date for orders placed before January 15 to January 16, Sabeco wants to sell more beer.
A dealer who called himself a “tiny wholesaler” said he often sells about 50,000 24-can packs of 333 beer per week. With the new price rise of of VND9,515 per pack, he can earn some VND500 million ($24,000) in a single week.
As a result, the bigger dealers will surely rake in much more money on their weekly beer sales.
Obviously, Sabeco’s price increase in the face of the Tet holiday is somewhat appropriate. Even though beer is classified as a luxury product, and is not necessary for everyday use, like eggs, demand for the beverage as a gift is still a very legitimate need of local consumers.
Hefty price for unreasonable price hike
The HCMC government is still busy with the investigation into the unreasonable price hikes of two egg producers, CP and Emivest.
If it is determined that CP and Emivest abused their dominant positions, they will be subject to sanctions. The most severe penalty would be the withdrawal of their business licenses, said a state agency.
The two businesses would also be subject to financial obligations with unreasonable profits from the excessive egg prices, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Trade and Industry.
CP and Emivest have continued to cut the retail prices of their eggs by VND200 and VND100 each, respectively, starting last Saturday. The latter has also pledged to maintain the price until the end of the Tet holiday.
According to the department, after more than a week of sudden price increases, the price of eggs in Ho Chi Minh City has returned to a level that is actually lower than when the hikes began.
However, the authorities said they will continue their investigation into the two companies in order to clarify their responsibilities to consumers and determine if they have violated the law.
Dao Thi Huong Lan, director of the HCMC Department of Finance, said that the Vietnam Competition Administration Department will inspect the two firms so that they can determine whether they have violated the Competition Law or not .
"Under the Competition Law, if firms with a market share of over 30 percent hike prices too much, causing damage to consumers, they will be scrutinized, including the potential withdrawal of business licenses.
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