At a Chinatown wet market yesterday, MediaCorp found that shoppers were prepared to pay higher prices for pork - a must-have on the dinner table in Chinese homes during the festive period.
A butcher said prices were up because imports of pork have fallen, with traditional supplies from Australia curtailed due to the recent floods there. In fact, some Australian importers were competing with Singapore for supplies from Indonesia, he said.
Fish saw the biggest price hike. One vendor said items such as the red snapper cost as much as 40 per cent more. Vendors blamed bad weather for the 60- to 70-per-cent hike in fish wholesale prices.
But the heavy rains here in recent days proved a boon to shoppers: Some stall owners, desperate to attract the dwindling number of customers, have started slashing prices.
Most vendors said yesterday that they would not be operating their stalls through the night until this morning. One stall holder lamented: "Everyone is staying at home because of the rain."
Despite the dampener, most vendors said they were confident they would be able to clear their stocks, thanks to the economic upturn.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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