Aussie floods affect food prices
By Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 04 January 2011 2107 hrs
SINGAPORE: Erratic weather conditions in the US and Australia have affected the supply and prices of flour, sugar and wine in Singapore.
According to a bread supplier, flour prices will increase by 10 per cent next week.
And to cope with this, bread prices at the traditional bakery will cost more from February.
The price of sugar has also doubled over the past year due to poor sugarcane harvest.
The price of wine has not been spared either.
At My Wine Shop, 30 per cent of its wine comes from Australia.
And with the recent floods affecting grape produce there, prices are expected to escalate.
My Wine Shop manager Edwin Chong said: "The harvest in Australia is between March and April. So by the time they are actually into the harvesting, fermentation and bottling, we should see an increase of about 20 to 30 per cent of the wine prices towards the end of the year.
"And indirectly, logistics and transportation will be affected as well".
-CNA/wk
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Car loan rates reach new lows
Car loan rates reach new lows
By Lynda Hong | Posted: 04 January 2011 2312 hrs
SINGAPORE: The shrinking car market -- as a result of the cut in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) quotas -- has forced car financiers and dealers to slash interest rates to new lows.
Since the fourth quarter of last year, interest rates across the board for car loans were cut to as low as 1.88 per cent -- a significant dip compared to the corresponding period in 2009 -- when interest rates ranged between 2.22 per cent and 2.50 per cent.
In November last year, Borneo Motors even temporarily offered a 1.49 per cent interest rate on loans for its Toyota cars, which came bundled with a package offering maintenance services and five years of unlimited mileage warranty.
The rate has since been reverted to the prevailing market rate of 1.88 per cent.
By press time, Borneo Motors had not said why the rate was raised.
To be announced this month, new COE quotas for the February to July period are expected to sink even lower.
This is expected to result in higher COE prices.
But it's the fewer COEs available, rather than higher prices, that have brought about lowered interest rates on car loans, said Tan Chong Motors general manager Ron Lim.
However, he feels a further cut of interest rates from the current 1.88 per cent is unlikely.
This is because the first company to lower interest rates cannot hold on to its gain of market share for long, as the other companies will follow suit to remain competitive.
Hence, most if not all companies will not reduce rates.
But the official dealer of Honda, Kah Motor, said a lower 1.65 per cent interest rate would have been possible if not for the three free maintenance service offered as part of the loan package.
Most car financiers like Hong Leong Finance, UOB and DBS -- which work with car distributors to offer car buyers loan packages bundled with freebies -- have remained tight-lipped on whether rates will go below the current 1.88 per cent.
Potential buyers of used cars are also being wooed with low interest rates on loans.
The honorary secretary of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA), Mr Raymond Tang, noted that car loan interest rates started falling in mid-2010, when the rates dipped from 2.5 per cent to the current 1.88 per cent.
Mr Tang also noted that its members are offering bundled promotions like petrol vouchers, GPS devices and "intensive cash rebates" that can be about 0.5 per cent of the total loan amount.
Despite the attractive car loans, car owners are not rushing to replace their current vehicles. Instead, they are now more disciplined with their loan repayments.
The number of car owners who have defaulted on their car loans -- which could have been acquired to finance the entire cost of a car -- has dropped.
According to the Credit Bureau Singapore, 3,038 consumers defaulted on car loans from Jan to Nov 2010, down by 6.58 per cent during the same period in 2009.
-CNA/wk
- wong chee tat :)
By Lynda Hong | Posted: 04 January 2011 2312 hrs
SINGAPORE: The shrinking car market -- as a result of the cut in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) quotas -- has forced car financiers and dealers to slash interest rates to new lows.
Since the fourth quarter of last year, interest rates across the board for car loans were cut to as low as 1.88 per cent -- a significant dip compared to the corresponding period in 2009 -- when interest rates ranged between 2.22 per cent and 2.50 per cent.
In November last year, Borneo Motors even temporarily offered a 1.49 per cent interest rate on loans for its Toyota cars, which came bundled with a package offering maintenance services and five years of unlimited mileage warranty.
The rate has since been reverted to the prevailing market rate of 1.88 per cent.
By press time, Borneo Motors had not said why the rate was raised.
To be announced this month, new COE quotas for the February to July period are expected to sink even lower.
This is expected to result in higher COE prices.
But it's the fewer COEs available, rather than higher prices, that have brought about lowered interest rates on car loans, said Tan Chong Motors general manager Ron Lim.
However, he feels a further cut of interest rates from the current 1.88 per cent is unlikely.
This is because the first company to lower interest rates cannot hold on to its gain of market share for long, as the other companies will follow suit to remain competitive.
Hence, most if not all companies will not reduce rates.
But the official dealer of Honda, Kah Motor, said a lower 1.65 per cent interest rate would have been possible if not for the three free maintenance service offered as part of the loan package.
Most car financiers like Hong Leong Finance, UOB and DBS -- which work with car distributors to offer car buyers loan packages bundled with freebies -- have remained tight-lipped on whether rates will go below the current 1.88 per cent.
Potential buyers of used cars are also being wooed with low interest rates on loans.
The honorary secretary of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA), Mr Raymond Tang, noted that car loan interest rates started falling in mid-2010, when the rates dipped from 2.5 per cent to the current 1.88 per cent.
Mr Tang also noted that its members are offering bundled promotions like petrol vouchers, GPS devices and "intensive cash rebates" that can be about 0.5 per cent of the total loan amount.
Despite the attractive car loans, car owners are not rushing to replace their current vehicles. Instead, they are now more disciplined with their loan repayments.
The number of car owners who have defaulted on their car loans -- which could have been acquired to finance the entire cost of a car -- has dropped.
According to the Credit Bureau Singapore, 3,038 consumers defaulted on car loans from Jan to Nov 2010, down by 6.58 per cent during the same period in 2009.
-CNA/wk
- wong chee tat :)
HDB launching residential site at Bishan for sale under Reserve List System
HDB launching residential site at Bishan for sale under Reserve List System
By Julie Quek | Posted: 07 January 2011 2104 hrs
SINGAPORE : The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is launching a residential site for sale by public tender under the Reserve List System.
The site is located at Bishan Street 14 and is slated for development as Condominium Housing.
The area is around 12,000 square metres in size, with a maximum gross floor area of some 58,000 square metres.
It has a lease term of 99 years and would be able to accommodate 590 units.HDB quoted the minimum offer price at S$189,831,390.
Under the Reserve List System, the government will put up a Reserve List site for public tender if it receives an application from a developer who commits, by signing an agreement and paying a deposit of 3 per cent of the bid price, capped at S$5 million, to bid for the site at or above the minimum offer price which is acceptable to the government.
HDB will launch the tender for the land parcel in about two weeks' time.
- CNA/ms
- wong chee tat :)
By Julie Quek | Posted: 07 January 2011 2104 hrs
SINGAPORE : The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is launching a residential site for sale by public tender under the Reserve List System.
The site is located at Bishan Street 14 and is slated for development as Condominium Housing.
The area is around 12,000 square metres in size, with a maximum gross floor area of some 58,000 square metres.
It has a lease term of 99 years and would be able to accommodate 590 units.HDB quoted the minimum offer price at S$189,831,390.
Under the Reserve List System, the government will put up a Reserve List site for public tender if it receives an application from a developer who commits, by signing an agreement and paying a deposit of 3 per cent of the bid price, capped at S$5 million, to bid for the site at or above the minimum offer price which is acceptable to the government.
HDB will launch the tender for the land parcel in about two weeks' time.
- CNA/ms
- wong chee tat :)
Food prices in wet markets to rise over Lunar New Year period
Food prices in wet markets to rise over Lunar New Year period
By Evelyn Lam and Monica Kotwani | Posted: 06 January 2011 2059 hrs
SINGAPORE : Some stall holders in wet markets say prices of fish, meat and vegetables in Singapore's wet markets are expected to rise over the Lunar New Year period.
They attribute the increase to freight costs and erratic weather.
With less than a month to go before the Lunar New Year, the price of fresh fish has already increased.
Some suppliers say the price of vegetable imports has gone up by 30 per cent, and pork by 20 per cent due to freight costs.
The cost price of beef has also gone up, but suppliers say they are not increasing their prices to stay competitive.
Stall holders at the Chinatown wet market say the erratic weather in many countries in the last few months has led to to a decrease in food supply.
As such, they say they have no choice but to increase prices.
- CNA/ch
- wong chee tat :)
By Evelyn Lam and Monica Kotwani | Posted: 06 January 2011 2059 hrs
SINGAPORE : Some stall holders in wet markets say prices of fish, meat and vegetables in Singapore's wet markets are expected to rise over the Lunar New Year period.
They attribute the increase to freight costs and erratic weather.
With less than a month to go before the Lunar New Year, the price of fresh fish has already increased.
Some suppliers say the price of vegetable imports has gone up by 30 per cent, and pork by 20 per cent due to freight costs.
The cost price of beef has also gone up, but suppliers say they are not increasing their prices to stay competitive.
Stall holders at the Chinatown wet market say the erratic weather in many countries in the last few months has led to to a decrease in food supply.
As such, they say they have no choice but to increase prices.
- CNA/ch
- wong chee tat :)
Car rental business booming due to higher COE
Car rental business booming due to higher COE
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 06 January 2011 2131 hrs
SINGAPORE : Higher COE prices are driving people to cheaper and more flexible options.
Among them - car rentals and car sharing.
The higher COE has been good for car rental firm "Popular Rent A Car".
It said business is up by about 20 per cent from a month ago.
"We understand that they have put their plans to buy a car on hold, or if they have booked a car and they are unsuccessful in the COE , they do not want to top up the price. So they are basically coming to rent a car instead," explained Ho Kok Kee, GM of Popular Rent A Car.
Despite the expected Lunar New Year boom, the company has put expansion plans on hold.
Ho said capital and operating costs will go up by 30 to 40 per cent if he acquires new cars with the higher COEs.
Kah Motor is another company that's not adding new cars to its rental fleet despite better business.
For the Lunar New Year, all of its small cars have been booked.
Choong Tat Soon, head of Rental & Leasing at Kah Motor said: "When COE started going up mid December, enquiries (for car rental) increased by as much as 10-15 per cent. And by January, a lot of them wanted to book a car, to make sure they have a car for (Lunar) New Year.
"Chances are, perhaps they are customers who have given up (getting) their own cars because of the high COE."
Unlike last year, more are also renting for longer periods.
"With the COE going up, there are more enquiries for long term rental in terms of weeks or even for a year. We have customers coming in... They take up a rented car for months until new cars become affordable," said Choong.
Besides renting, it seems that more people are now more open to the concept of car sharing.
Industry players that Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they have seen a 15-20 per cent increase in membership applications in the last two months.
"When we launched the car sharing scheme at Treelodge at Punggol, there were quite a lot of enquiries. With this awareness and the high COE, more people tend to move over to car share, especially those who have two cars," said Choong.
One of those who has given up his car is Mr M Richard.
He said: "My car is a Nissan 1.6, and I've already used it for three years. Now I intend to do some business myself, so I want to trade-in to a van - a small mini van."
With higher value for used cars, trading-in has also become popular.
Raymond Tang, Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association said: "When they sell, they get back a lot of money so they can afford to change their cars... and also upgrade to a newer model."
Tang said he has seen a 70 per cent increase in trade-in now compared to two or three years ago.
- CNA /ls
- wong chee tat :)
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 06 January 2011 2131 hrs
SINGAPORE : Higher COE prices are driving people to cheaper and more flexible options.
Among them - car rentals and car sharing.
The higher COE has been good for car rental firm "Popular Rent A Car".
It said business is up by about 20 per cent from a month ago.
"We understand that they have put their plans to buy a car on hold, or if they have booked a car and they are unsuccessful in the COE , they do not want to top up the price. So they are basically coming to rent a car instead," explained Ho Kok Kee, GM of Popular Rent A Car.
Despite the expected Lunar New Year boom, the company has put expansion plans on hold.
Ho said capital and operating costs will go up by 30 to 40 per cent if he acquires new cars with the higher COEs.
Kah Motor is another company that's not adding new cars to its rental fleet despite better business.
For the Lunar New Year, all of its small cars have been booked.
Choong Tat Soon, head of Rental & Leasing at Kah Motor said: "When COE started going up mid December, enquiries (for car rental) increased by as much as 10-15 per cent. And by January, a lot of them wanted to book a car, to make sure they have a car for (Lunar) New Year.
"Chances are, perhaps they are customers who have given up (getting) their own cars because of the high COE."
Unlike last year, more are also renting for longer periods.
"With the COE going up, there are more enquiries for long term rental in terms of weeks or even for a year. We have customers coming in... They take up a rented car for months until new cars become affordable," said Choong.
Besides renting, it seems that more people are now more open to the concept of car sharing.
Industry players that Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they have seen a 15-20 per cent increase in membership applications in the last two months.
"When we launched the car sharing scheme at Treelodge at Punggol, there were quite a lot of enquiries. With this awareness and the high COE, more people tend to move over to car share, especially those who have two cars," said Choong.
One of those who has given up his car is Mr M Richard.
He said: "My car is a Nissan 1.6, and I've already used it for three years. Now I intend to do some business myself, so I want to trade-in to a van - a small mini van."
With higher value for used cars, trading-in has also become popular.
Raymond Tang, Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association said: "When they sell, they get back a lot of money so they can afford to change their cars... and also upgrade to a newer model."
Tang said he has seen a 70 per cent increase in trade-in now compared to two or three years ago.
- CNA /ls
- wong chee tat :)
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