Output of essential goods to be hiked

After meeting yesterday with 30 producers and modern traders, Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol insisted there would be an adequate supply of essential products during the flooding crisis.
“The empty shelves for some foods and goods in the past few days resulted from modern traders being unable to fill them in time, while enterprises have faced transport problems. But essential goods will be supplied continuously after producers increase their output,” he said.
He also called on consumers not to panic-buy or hoard goods.
There have been reports of shortages of instant foods, canned fish, drinking water and some other essential goods at many modern-trade outlets due to hoarding by consumers, as well as the fact that there has been a high level of purchasing for donations to assist flood victims.
To solve the logistics problem that has arisen as a result of the severe flooding, the ministry has also set up an operations centre for modern traders and producers to link their supply chains and ensure that retailers’ shelves are filled.
Poom said the producers of essential goods such as instant noodles, packed rice, canned foods and drinking water had insisted that they would all have sufficient capacity to supply modern traders and other shops nationwide during the crisis.
The government today will also ask the National Rice Policy Committee to approve the release of about 200,000 tonnes of rice from stockpiles for the production of 10 million to 20 million packs to aid flood victims, he added.
Moreover, as an urgent measure to help the distribution of goods and aid those badly affected by the flooding, shops in 10 particularly hard-hit provinces have agreed to reduce their prices for essential goods by 20 per cent.
Somchai Pornrattanacharoen, president of the Thai Retailing and Wholesaling Association, said small retail shops would be more efficient than modern traders in increasing supplies and reaching consumers.
For instance, the small stores will lower the price of instant noodles from Bt6 to Bt5 per pack, while canned fish will be sold for Bt11.50-Bt12, drinking water for Bt4-Bt5 per 500cc bottle, and rice for no higher than Bt100 per 5-kilogram pack.
Somkiat Makcayathorn, president of the Thai Rice Packers Association, insisted that although 60-70 per cent of rice packs at modern stores had been sold out, there was still an adequate supply of rice for domestic consumption and export.
Meanwhile, shortages and sharp price rises of bricks, concrete blocks and sandbags have been reported in Bangkok and nearby provinces.
The price of sandbags has increased from Bt25-Bt30 to Bt45-Bt50, while cement has surged from Bt110 to Bt130-Bt140.