A salt purchase takes place in the southern province of Bac Lieu. Viet Nam still imports salt for industrial production from neighbouring countries, despite producing 1.2 million tonnes of unprocessed salt per year. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh SuCambodian salt fills market while local producers struggle
31-01-2008
VNS (Hanoi)
AN GIANG — A shortage of salt on the local market has resulted in a large volume of salt being imported into the country from Cambodia, experts say.
In the past month, traders bought salt at VND900 a kg from Cambodia’ s Kampot province and imported it across the southern border province of An Giang.
Imported salt is then transported along the Vinh Te Canal in An Phu Commune and Tinh Bien town for local sale.
The price has risen to VND4,000 a kg in Bac Lieu Province, the country’s largest salt granary.
Market experts said local salt prices had increased tenfold over last year and reached a record high in the past five years.
The scarcity of salt was expected to continue because of the traditional methods of salt production that result in low yields, experts said.
Compounding the problem are the increasingly dwindling acreage for salt production due to rapid urbanisation, inclement weather and high demand for salt exports, industry insiders say.
Huynh Thi Ngoc Anh, a resident and salt dealer in Tinh Bien town, said that a large amount of salt was being imported from Cambodia.
Ngoc Anh earns a 5 per cent profit on each 50 kg bag of salt, priced at VND48,000 each.
She said she often bought 400 to 500 bags of salt from Cambodia at a time, and usually earned about several million dong a month.
Residents in other businesses are also turning to importing salt from Cambodia.
Nguyen Van Tuc, a longstanding cross-border rice trader who now imports salt for a living, said he could sell an average of 2,000-4,000 bags of salt a day to traders from HCM City and Can Tho and Dong Thap provinces.
In the past month, traders bought salt at VND900 a kg from Cambodia’ s Kampot province and imported it across the southern border province of An Giang.
Imported salt is then transported along the Vinh Te Canal in An Phu Commune and Tinh Bien town for local sale.
The price has risen to VND4,000 a kg in Bac Lieu Province, the country’s largest salt granary.
Market experts said local salt prices had increased tenfold over last year and reached a record high in the past five years.
The scarcity of salt was expected to continue because of the traditional methods of salt production that result in low yields, experts said.
Compounding the problem are the increasingly dwindling acreage for salt production due to rapid urbanisation, inclement weather and high demand for salt exports, industry insiders say.
Huynh Thi Ngoc Anh, a resident and salt dealer in Tinh Bien town, said that a large amount of salt was being imported from Cambodia.
Ngoc Anh earns a 5 per cent profit on each 50 kg bag of salt, priced at VND48,000 each.
She said she often bought 400 to 500 bags of salt from Cambodia at a time, and usually earned about several million dong a month.
Residents in other businesses are also turning to importing salt from Cambodia.
Nguyen Van Tuc, a longstanding cross-border rice trader who now imports salt for a living, said he could sell an average of 2,000-4,000 bags of salt a day to traders from HCM City and Can Tho and Dong Thap provinces.
3 comments:
VN importing from Cambodia?
Or is HUN SEN giving away/paying YUON back with anything KHMER has for free or almost for free???
Damn the Viet/Yuon tricky politics of annexation/colonialism!
good, higher demand means more profit and more jobs for the local people in kampot.
Raise salt price to export and keep it lower for domestic. That would bring GNP higher.
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