City consumers benefit hugely from sales promotion month

Consumers buy fashion products at a supermarket in HCMC. Discounts for fashion products averaged out at 22% during September - Photo: Minh Tam

HCMC – Consumers in HCMC enjoyed nearly VND300 billion, or some US$15 million, under the form of discounts during September chosen as the Big Sale Promotion Month, the city’s Department of Industry and Trade said on Wednesday.

In its overview of the sales month released on Wednesday, the department said the total promotional value amounted to VND296 billion, a hefty increase of 120% against the similar activity last year.

As many as 608 traders with 2,200 outlets participated in the sales program, increasing by 22.7% and 38% respectively. Most of the participating traders are trade centers, supermarkets, and marketplaces.

The department in its report said sharpest discounts belonged to cosmetics-fashion at an average 22%, followed by digital equipment and ICT devices at 18.5%, tourism-hotel and foods and beverages both at 16.2%, and household appliances at 15.9%.

Many traders reported sharp increases in sales during the month.

Saigon Co.op with its stores chain Co.opMart saw sales revenue increase 40% against the previous month and 50% year on year, while BigC witnessed the number of shoppers increase a staggering 110%. Other less-known supermarkets also reported agreeable growth rates, at 15-25% at Maximark, and 30% at Citimart.

Electronics centers were also big gainers in the month. Thien Hoa Electronics Shopping Centers reported an increase of 120% against August and 136% against the year-earlier period.

A highlight of this year’s sales program is the attraction of green products marketed by Unilever, Vinamilk, Colgate Palmolive, and Kido JS Company.

Revenues of these enterprises introducing green products at Saigon Co.op’s chain were said to increase by between 30% and 40% during the week-long showcase.

The Sales Promotion Month is a regular activity organized by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Department of Culture-Sports-Tourism to boost sales in September, when retail revenues often plunge. The annual activity was first organized in 2005.

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September inflation set for small rise

HA NOI — Inflation is unlikely to increase sharply in September despite some factors likely to exert upward pressure on the index.

Recent estimates indicated that the consumer price index (CPI) this month would record a month-on-month increase of one per cent.

However, official sources said that a CPI increase of one per cent was unlikely because price rises in some essential goods were less than previously estimated.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Management Team expected September's CPI to increase by just 0.3-0.4 per cent against August.

Crude oil registered a slight reduction, but many other essential goods continued to increase in price, including sugar, fertiliser, food and catering services, animal feed, milk, medicines, consumer goods and steel ingots.

So far this month, rice prices had increased by VND1,000 per kilo in the first week but saw a slight reduction of VND200-300 per kilo in the second week.

With the onset of the rainy season, food prices would increase in some places which had experienced heavy rain, storms and flood, said the team.

An increase in the interbank rate early this month had also pushed prices of imported products up, so a future rise in the CPI could be possible.

The new school year started in September, and increased school fees saw educational products and related services rise.

However, the prices would have little effect on the CPI because this spending accounted for only 5.72 per cent of total household expenditure, constituting the CPI.

Meanwhile, recent sharp increases in the price of gold and US dollar would not affect the CPI this month, as the index excluded the prices of those products, the team said.

The team believed many factors would lead to an increased CPI, but the rise would not be sharp due to the Government's effective policies on curbing inflation. — VNS

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Firms urged to cut imports

Containers are loaded at Chua Ve Port in Hai Phong. The nation's imports totalled $52.68 billion in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 24.4 per cent over the same period last year. — VNA/VNS Photo Hong Ky

HA NOI — Businesses should reduce imports and increase the use of domestic raw materials and equipment in order to help curb the nation's trade deficit, said Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang during an online meeting with business leaders on Monday.

Firms also needed to find ways to reduce costs, increase the supply of skilled workers, and boost trade and export promotion efforts, Hoang said.

Attendants at the conference agreed that a dependence on imported materials was influencing the prices of export products due to market fluctuations. They also noted that it could subject some export products to trade barriers from other countries.

The trade deficit hit a record US$8.16 billion in the first eight months of the year, an increase of $3 billion over the same period of last year, according to ministry sources.

Imports also rose to 18.3 per cent of total export turnover, and, without more effective measures, the ratio might exceed the 20-per-cent limit set by the National Assembly, the ministry said.

The nation's imports totalled $52.68 billion overall in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 24.4 per cent over the same period last year. Domestic businesses accounted for $30.3 billion of the imports – an increase of 13.2 per cent – while foreign-invested firms imported $22.37 billion worth of goods, a whopping 43.6-per-cent increase.

Imported materials for industrial production rose dramatically, including machinery, up 14.9 per cent, textiles, up 38.1 per cent and metals, up 79.9 per cent Among consumer products, imports of electronics, computers and accessories rose 31.5 per cent and imports of clothing climbed by 26.6 per cent. — VNS

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CPI up 0.23% in August led by education, food

HA NOI— The Consumer Price Index in August increased slightly by 0.23 per cent over last month, the General Statistics Offic announced yesterday.

On aggregate, the CPI was up 8.18 per cent over the same period last year and 8.61 per cent in comparison with the first eight months of last year.

Most commodities groups rose slightly, ranging from a low of 0.1 to a high of 0.6 per cent. Education saw the highest increase of 1.29 per cent, while the only decrease was experienced by post and telecoms at 4.55 per cent.

The second highest increase was in food stuff and restaurant services, which increased by 0.67 per cent and 0.1 per cent in comparison with last month. Housing and construction materials prices were up only 0.07 per cent.

Transport increased slightly by 0.37 per cent despite an increase in fuel prices in the middle of August.

The rise in food and restaurant services groups was attributed to an increase in rice production, for both consumption and export, in southern provinces.

The price of gold was down by 0.88 per cent while the US dollar rose 0.48 per cent over last month.

GSO expert Do Thi Ngoc said the month's CPI increase had not been affected by a rise in fuel price or the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong compared to the US dollar. However, she predicted the coming month's CPI would be impacted by these factors.

In the first eight months of the year, other commodities also saw a high increase, including gold (37.78 percent), transport (16 per cent), housing and construction materials (roughly 15%), other commodities and services (11.79 per cent) and goods (around 11 per cent).

The capital's CPI increased by 0.15 per cent while HCM City's decreased by 0.25 per cent. Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong and Thua Thien-Hue rose by 0.06 per cent, 0.12 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively. — VNS

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CPI increases by 0.23 percent in August

The consumer price index increased by 0.23 percent over the last month,
after increasing only 0.06 percent, the lowest rise for the past six
years, according to the General Statistics Office.

The August
increase led to the rise in the first eight months of the year by 5.08
percent over 2009 and an 8.61 percent increase year-on-year.

Ten
out of 11 commodities used to calculate the CPI increased by between 3
percent and 16 percent. Only post and telecom services decreased, by
nearly 0.4 percent.

Experts predicted that low increases would be difficult to be maintained, but the rise would be stable at 0.2-0.3 percent.

The
Government’s adjustment in the exchange rate between VND and USD and
the increase in price of petroleum in the country were reasons for the
rise of the August CPI.

However, experts warned that prices would
increase sharply late in the year due to an increase in demand during
the New Year festival. In addition, the increase in prices in world
markets, high bank interest rates, natural disasters and epidemics would
be challenges to the country’s targets of inflation control.

To
reach the goal of controlling CPI for the whole year at 7-8 percent, the
Government has asked ministries, sectors and localities to continue
measures to curb inflation and hold down price hikes, focusing on
examining prices, bank interest rates and foreign exchanges./.

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