The HCM City fruit and vegetable market has witnessed a significant increase in prices since last week. — Photo courtesy of thanhnien.vn

Fruit and vegetable prices in HCM City increased sharply in the last week, especially following the recent storms and floods in the Central region.

Some fruit and vegetable prices doubled compared to other days, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

Though the markup has slowed down since October 29, locals said that prices of fruits and vegetables are still relatively high.

While a kilo of runner beans costs VND36,000, bok choy is currently priced at VND30,000/kilo, calabash at VND30,000/kilo, Dutch tomatoes at VND41,000/kilo, water spinach at VND30,000/kilo, and choysum at VND30,000/kilo.

According to a vegetable seller at Tan Phuoc Market in Tan Binh District, the price of vegetables as of October 29 was cooling down, compared to two to three days before when a kilo of runner beans had sold for VND50,000.

Many kinds of vegetables and fruits were transported to Central provinces after the floods, Lan said, adding that frequent rains in the Southern region had affected her stock as well.

Nguyen Ngoc Tham, a vegetable seller in Binh Thoi Market in District 11, said that prices of lettuce of all kinds have increased from VND10,000 to 15,000 per kilo, similar to other vegetables from Da Lat.

Despite the fluctuation in fruit and vegetable prices, the retail price of pork in the market has remained stable.

On early days of November one kilo of pork rib at Ong Dia Market in Tan Binh District was priced at VND180,000, while bacon was VND160,000/kilo and cutlets VND140,000/kilo.

Tuyet Hieu, a vegetable supplier from Da Lat, said that rainy weather in Da Lat had made it difficult to grow sufficient stock for Da Nang, HCM City and Can Tho markets.

Her 1ha of garden's usual yield of 30 tonnes of vegetables had declined to just over 10 tonnes, resulting in a sharp increase in price due to limited stock.

“In fact, vegetable supply from the South to Central region was not that high, considering that the vegetable market from the North covered a large amount. It is worth mentioning that our customers in Central provinces tend to refuse to pay high prices for vegetables,” Hieu added, emphasising that it was mostly heavy rains in Da Lat that caused the drop in supply. — VNS