Cost of nuts on the rise
By Lip Kwok Wai / Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 12 September 2011 2010 hrs
SINGAPORE: Customers may now have to fork out some 10 per cent more when buying nuts. Suppliers said that is because production costs have risen by some 30 per cent in the past two months due to bad weather and the decline in farming areas.
Other reasons cited for the escalation of production costs are rising salaries and higher fuel costs.
Singapore gets its main supply of nuts from countries like India, Vietnam and Australia.
And industry players said more of these farmers are converting their agricultural land to industrial use, hence causing a shortage in supply.
In the past week, the demand for walnuts also saw a sharp increase, after a US medical research report revealed that it could help to stem breast cancer growth. This caused prices to rise from S$20 to S$22 per kilograms.
And while Chinese New Year is four months away, some supermarkets have already started placing their orders as they expect the prices of nuts to go up further early next year.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
