Input queue drops

Inside a wood production line of Truong Thanh Furniture Corporation. — Photo truongthanh.com As wood export turnover is rebounding with rising demand in the domestic market, the revenues of wood enterprises are expected to advance. However, skyrocketing prices of raw materials and logistics costs will weigh on these companies’ gross profit margin in 2022. VNDIRECT Securities Corporation (VNDIRECT) estimated that the total revenue of listed wood and wood products companies in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 rose by 10.2 per cent year-on-year thanks to the recovery of wood producers in the south. After the social distancing order was lifted, most wood companies in the southern region resumed operations at 90 per cent capacity in the first quarter of 2022, while in the second half of 2021 it was only 60-65 per cent. The export wood enterprises achieved better business results in Q1 of 2022. Specifically, Truong Thanh Furniture Corporation (HoSE: TTF) and Phu Tai JSC (HoSE: PTB) … [Read more...] about Rising costs cast doubt on wood companies growth prospects

Tan Phu Plastic Company produces safe products to serve the local market. The "Zero Covid" policy of China means many Vietnamese producers lack input materials. (Photo courtesy of the firm) The worst sufferers were the electronics, wood, textiles, and footwear industries. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), China was an important market for the export and import activities of Vietnam as it provides the majority of input materials for Vietnam's production, especially electronic components, machinery parts, fabrics and chemicals. MoIT said from 50 to 55 percent of raw materials and accessories for the textile, garment, and footwear industries originated from China. The country was currently implementing the "Zero Covid" strategy, which forced many factories there temporarily stop production to fight the pandemic. The import-export activities in the neighboring country were affected a lot by the shortage of containers at ports. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Vice … [Read more...] about Local enterprises lack materials due to China’s ‘Zero Covid’ policy

Quarantine at centralized facilities has been cut to seven days from 14, and subsequent at-home health monitoring has been reduced to three days from seven, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The latest guidelines from the health authority also eased quarantine requirements for close contacts of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus. China has cautiously eased its Covid curbs on cross-border travelers in recent months, with health officials saying the shorter incubation period of the Omicron variant allows for an adjustment of quarantine periods. The Chinese capital Beijing in recent months has already reduced the quarantine period at centralized facilities to 10 days from 14. China, last month, also removed some Covid-19 test requirements for people flying in from countries such as the U.S. Stock markets rose in Hong Kong and the mainland, with the Hang Seng Index reversing losses and ticking up roughly 0.4 percent and the CSI300 Index … [Read more...] about China slashes Covid quarantine time for international travelers

Customers shop at Xom Moi Market in HCM City's Go Vap District. The price rises have been blamed on high transportation and feed costs. — VNA/VNS Photo Fruit, vegetable and meat prices increased sharply in HCM City last week amid the prolonged heavy rain in the south and rising gasoline prices. The price of pork has increased by VND15,000-30,000 per kilogramme since early this month to VND120,000-180,000 (US$5.1-7.7), and that of chicken by VND10,000-15,000 to around VND60,000. A kilogramme of pork rib at Ong Dia Market in Tan Binh District costs VND180,000, while bacon is VND160,000 and cutlets, VND140,000. The price of piglets is up 20 per cent from two months ago. The rises have been blamed on high transportation and feed costs. Egg prices have also increased sharply, and they retail at VND4,000-4,300 per chicken egg and VND4,300 in the case of duck eggs. But farmers, however, are still suffering losses because of the high prices of packaging, fuel and other inputs. … [Read more...] about Meat, vegetable prices shoot up in HCM City

A Saigon Zoo member of staff and a group of students are transforming elephant dung into paper. For the past six months, the five elephants at the Saigon Zoo have not only served visitors but also helped produce paper through an environmentally-friendly project. Making papers out of elephant dung has been done in many countries. However, it is a new idea in Vietnam. Mai Khac Trung Truc at the Saigon Zoo said that he joined the project with some students from the Poo Poo Papers group. "I think it is a nice idea which will help raise people's awareness about forest protection," Truc said. According to Truc, the five elephants at Saigon Zoo produce 500 kilos of droppings every day but they are only using five kilos for the pilot phase of the project. The dung is gathered and washed so that only the plant fibres remain. The fibres are then dried under the sun. Nguyen Kieu Tuyet Ngan, 22, from Poo … [Read more...] about Saigon Zoo elephant dung used to make paper

Illustrative image. (Photo: SGGP) The People's Committee of HCMC said that the disbursement rate of the Public Investment Plan in 2022 is not much compared to previous years due to many difficulties and obstacles, but mainly the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. The restart of the construction of projects in the first months of 2022 experienced a certain delay after the time the city adopted measures to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, input costs were unstable and tended to increase. Besides the above objective reasons, the People's Committee of HCMC also raised some other subjective reasons affecting the disbursement progress of public investment capital, for example, difficulties related to site clearance; it is necessary to have time to carry out the project adjustment procedures on the basis of Resolution No.99/NQ-HDND dated October 19, 2021, of the People's Council of HCMC and Decision No.4354/QD-UBND dated December 28, 2021, on the medium-term capital … [Read more...] about HCMC disburses only 17 percent of public investment capital in first six months

China on Tuesday reduced the length of mandatory quarantine for inbound travellers, in the biggest relaxation of entry restrictions after sticking to a rigid zero Covid policy throughout the pandemic. The new guideline cuts the length of mandatory quarantine for overseas travellers to seven days plus three more of home monitoring -- a drastic drop from about 21 days of quarantine and home monitoring combined. China closed off its international borders in March 2020 and the number of international flights is still tightly restricted in an effort to tamp down "imported" virus cases as the pandemic rages elsewhere. Overseas arrivals have faced weeks of strict monitoring and costly quarantine in hotels and designated centres, as well as soaring ticket prices for the slashed number of flights. Under the latest Covid prevention and control policy guidelines announced by the National Heath Commission and the State Council, inbound travellers entering China will now be required to … [Read more...] about China halves quarantine time for overseas travellers

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam posted 27.88 billion USD worth of agro-forestry-fishery exports in the first half of this year, an annual increase of 13.9%. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, of the total value, the groups of key farm produce and forestry products contributed 11.37 billion USD and 9.1 billion USD, both growing by 8.8% and 3% year-on-year, respectively. Fishery products shipped overseas during the six months, meanwhile, reeled in 5.8 billion USD, up 40.8% annually. There were nine type of goods recorded an export revenue exceeding 1 billon USD in the period, namely coffee, rubber, cashew, vegetable-fruit, rice, Tra fish, shrimp, woodwork products, and inputs for production. The ministry said the US and China were the biggest importers of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery goods for spending more than 7.61 billion USD and 4.97 billion USD, increasing 7.9% and 5.9% from the same period last year, … [Read more...] about Agro-forestry-fishery exports rake in 27.88 billion USD in 6 months

Vietnam will keep a close eye on the emergence of new strains. Vietnam has detected imported BA.5 Omicron sub-variant after conducting gene sequencing of newly confirmed patients' samples, according to Dr. Phan Trong Lan, director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH). Lan underscored that initial research showed the Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 spread faster than the old sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). There has been no specific evidence of the new sub-variants’ virulence, but some studies indicated that there is an aggravation in the African region. However,  the director confirmed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 still remains the dominant one in the country. “The emergence of new strains is inevitable as a result of border reopening and the new normal situation, in which precautionary protocols are relaxed,” Lan said. He added that the BA.5 sub-variant was first detected in South Africa in January. Since then, it has … [Read more...] about BA.5 Omicron sub-variant detected in Vietnam

"If we do not operate regularly, we will lose our slots at bus stations, but the more we operate, the more we lose because of surging costs," Do Van Bang, CEO of Sao Viet’s parent company, Minh Thanh Phat, said. Sao Viet has reducing the number of trips to cut costs. Bang said the only way to break even is to increase fares by 15-20 percent, but with competition being intense, the time is not right for it. But the company would not be able to absorb the losses for long, he added. The company is one of many to lose due to the 39 percent rise in fuel prices since the beginning of this year. Nguyen Manh Hung, CEO of transport firm International Logistics, said fuel accounts for 40 percent of costs, and so the increases in their prices has affected the company. It is not easy to negotiate price hikes with customers, he said. "We are trying to cut all other expenses to survive the fuel price surge." Half of all fishing vessels in Vietnam have stopped going out to sea … [Read more...] about Industries hit hard by rising fuel prices