CRI听力: Cleaning Products Price Hike

Many reports say, from the end of March to early April, most brands of daily chemical products will be increasing the prices by about ten percent on average. This round of price hikes is led by four big players in China: P&G, Unilever, Liby and Nice. The four intense competitors are claiming to increase the prices almost at the same time, can it really be a coincidence? What's the reason behind it?

Zhang Wan takes a closer look.




 This is Wu Xiaoying, secretary to the president of Nice Group. She says she has no idea about the price increase, so far, the prices remain unchanged.

Xu Xiaodong, spokesperson of another daily chemical product giant Liby Group, says among all their products, only the price of dish-washing detergent will go up.

"Only the price of a low-end dish-washing detergent will increase a little bit, less than a 10% increase."

Xu Xiaodong says the price increase is brought by higher cost for production nowadays, and it's a coincidence that these manufacturers all are planning for price adjustment almost at the same time.

These four manufacturers, including P&G, Unilever, Liby and Nice, account for over 80 percent of China's household chemical products. Their brands dominate the shelves of supermarkets in China.

Although supermarkets in some cities have not received any notice of price increases, they have started to stock more cleaning products, as panic buying of cleaning products by customers has started. One customer in Guangzhou says:

"I heard that the prices of these cleaning products are going to be higher in early April, so I decided to get as much as I can for stock, anyway, they won't go rotten."

In many supermarkets in Shanghai, the shelves of daily chemical products such as washing powder, dish-washing detergent, and soap have become empty. Xu Huihui, a sales person says:

"So far, we have not yet received any notice of a price increase. Now we are trying to stock more cleaning products, so as to ensure supply in the supermarket. But customers are advised not to blindly buy too many cleaning products, as they will expire after stocking for too long."

According to Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, after supplementing their stocks, supply has again reached sufficient levels in those supermarkets.

I personally went two supermarkets in west Beijing at noon, and saw the shelves of daily chemical products are piled with all kinds of cleaning products. Only a couple of customers were selecting washing powder in the aisles.

For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.