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Price spike hits HK shoppers

AFP, Hong Kong
Shoppers and food suppliers in Hong Kong have have been feeling the pinch in recent months as food prices have skyrocketed, showing the port city's vulnerability to global shifts in commodities markets.
Hong Kong's staple foods of pork, rice and cooking oil have all seen dramatic cost increases, placing huge pressure on shoppers, butchers and wholesalers.
The southern Chinese city relies almost entirely on imports for its food supply and the recent rises have left the poorest in the city struggling to afford even the basics.
One housewife, who only gave her surname as Shen, said that one morning her local shop had simply run out other normal purchase of four bottles of cooking oil, normally priced at 73.9 Hong Kong dollars (9.5 US).
She returned after lunch to find the supply replenished, but the price had jumped to 109 Hong Kong dollars, a rise of 47 percent in a few hours. Shen refused to pay the extra, preferring to go without.
"We eat less than before, waiting for the prices to decrease," she told AFP.
Percy Ma, a salesman, said the Thai rice he normally bought had jumped in price by a third in the past three months.
"I changed to cheaper rice from mainland China, but that is no longer that easy to find," he said.
Ma has started shopping in different markets around the city for different vegetables to try and keep his weekly bill down, he said.
A survey by the Hong Kong Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre found that 97 percent of people had felt the impact of the rapid price increases, according to a report in Ming Pao.
The survey found shoppers were now heading to markets at closing time to take advantage of bargains and were also simply eating less meat.
The city's Consumer Council issued a report into the increase in food costs for shoppers earlier this year, urging people to compare prices whenever possible.
The price of pork increased 59.1 percent year-on-year in March, the latest figures released by the Census and Statistics Department showed. Beef was up 50.8 percent and eggs were up 19.4 percent.
Food remains the biggest driver of inflation here, with food excluding meals bought away from home increasing 17.2 percent year-on-year over the same period.
But the sudden increase In prices has not just hit shoppers. Rice importers, who provide huge quantities of the staple to restaurants, schools, hotels and hospitals across the city, are struggling as their supply contracts failed to account for the spike.
Paddy Chan, managing director of Chung Shun Hong Rice Trading Company, said he had now stopped signing longterm contracts because the
deals he had made three months ago had left him selling rice under cost
"There is a new price for any kind of rice every day," said Chan, who is also die deputy president of the Hong Kong Rice Suppliers' Association.
"I have to fulfill the contract to supply rice to them. In the meantime, 1 arn losing money."
Most of the rice sold in Hong Kong comes from Thailand. Thailand's benchmark Pathumthani fragrant variety was priced recently at 998 US dollars per tonne for export, up from 512 dollars in January, the Thai Rice Exporters Association said in a survey.
Despite assurances from governments in Thailand. Hong Kong and China that the
supply here would not be affected, Yeung Shing-song, manager of Sun Wing Loong Rice Trading Company said provisions were dwindling.
"We ordered 100 tonnes for the last three months and have gotten only 50-60 tonnes," he said, adding that the company only avoided bankruptcy because of large reserves.
He said the price of rice had doubled in the past two months.
"Like the stock market, when the price goes extremely high, few deals can be made." he said.
For some businesses, the rise in prices has forced them to work harder to outdo rivals.
The New Yong Cheng pork supplier in the busy Wanchai market area has gained new customers despite the increases, a butcher at the storesaid.
"This is because our price is relatively lower than others and we do more work to attract more shoppers", said the butcher, who only gave his surname, Bian.
Bian and his colleagues head to the slaughterhouse at 6:00 am to select the best pork, but despite the effort, customers are still reducing their weekly shop.
"The shoppers used to buy one catty (600 grams) each while they now buy ten Hang (375 grams)," said Bian's colleague Lui Tin.