INDUSTRY / PRICE FREEZES

Mingkwan meets manufacturers in a bid to get basic prices down

PHUSADEE ARUNMAS

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan yesterday managed to convince the manufacturers of only four product groups to agree to freeze their prices.

Mingkwan: Only four groups agreed

Mr Mingkwan had a three-hour meeting with 300 manufacturers from 10 product and service groups in a desperate attempt by the government to bring down household expenses.

Manufacturers of the four product groups which agreed not to raise prices in the near future included electrical appliances, Mama instant noodles, cleansing products such as toothpaste, soap, dish-washing liquids and detergents, and Phan Tai Norasing instant seasoning products.

Mr Mingkwan said his ministry would continue to urge manufacturers of other product groups not to raise prices.

Other product and service groups represented at yesterday's meeting came from the food and beverage industry, commodity products, petroleum products, the paper industry, construction materials, steel, retailers and wholesalers, chemical fertilisers and pesticides and private hospitals.

Mr Mingkwan said business operators told him that the key factors that were driving up the prices of consumer goods were high oil and raw material prices.

''We need to find a way to freeze the prices of consumer goods,'' he said.

Meanwhile Pornsil Patcharintanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Board of Trade, warned the government not to use any means that go against market forces to stabilise the prices of certain goods.

The Internal Trade Department does not have the staff to monitor the price of every product on the market, and believes it should be left to the free market mechanism to correct the situation.

''Don't treat this issue as a political agenda,'' Mr Pornsil said, warning that the situation could worsen if the manufacturers were made to shoulder unbearable costs. ''What would happen if manufacturers could no longer bear the cost of producing the goods?

''The government should let market mechanisms work and be fair with manufacturers. Producers generally set competitive prices,'' he stated.

Surachai Sutthitham, president of the Swine Raisers Association of Thailand, said pig farmers were ready to cooperate with the Commerce Ministry's request, but they too insisted that allowing market mechanisms to determine the pork prices was the best way out.

According to him, a recent hike in ex-farm prices stemmed from rising raw material costs and animal feed. The prices would be automatically adjusted down once the raw material costs drop, he said. Rising material costs affected the entire world, not just Thailand.

The Internal Trade Department recently approved a sharp increase in the ex-farm price of pork to 59-61 baht a kilogramme from 44-45 baht, resulting in the retail price rising to 115-120 baht per kilogramme from 95-100 baht.

---

Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next