HCM CITY – With the Tết (Lunar New Year) approaching, the managements of HCM City’s wholesale markets have been instructed to monitor the market and prices and keep traders informed, the city Department of Industry and Trade has said.

Phạm Thành Kiên, its director, said prices should be kept steady instead of having them plummet before Tết, which would cause customers to wait for that and leave their goods unsold.

Forecasts of demand have been provided to traders, he said.

The managements should monitor the market for pricing and supply anomalies and preclude any surplus or shortage of goods, he said.

Last Tết a huge quantity of flowers were discarded by traders due to oversupply and a deterioration in quality because of the long distances they had to be transported.

Nguyễn Nhu, deputy director of the Thủ Đức Agromarket Management and Business Company, which runs the wholesale Thủ Đức Agro Market, said most traders at the market are waiting to buy closer to Tết.

Supply of fruits commonly bought during Tết such as mango, custard apple, mandarin, pomelo, and dragon fruit is expected to fall since unseasonable weather has affected yields and quality.

The volume of flowers coming into the market will be around 290 tonnes a day, 10.8 per cent lower that last year.

The managements of the city’s three wholesale markets, Bình Điền, Thủ Đức and Hóc Môn, have said that traders are committed to not using chemicals, additives and preservatives that are harmful to health.

Goods entering the markets have to come with clear origins and proper documentation and certification, they warned.

Agricultural products, seafood and meat account for 60-70 per cent of the goods sold in the three wholesale markets.

Some 15,000-16,000 tonnes of goods are expected to enter the market every day from today until February 3 as demand steadily rises until Tết. - VNS