Baby milk runs out after bulk buying
By Feng Jianmin |
February 14, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BABIES in Hong Kong and Macau are facing milk powder shortages after Chinese mainland customers and smugglers snapped up supplies over the Spring Festival holiday.
The shopping binge has left many popular imported brands sold out and prices for what remains are up 10 percent, Chinanews.com reported.
"Milk powder has been in short supply," a staff member at a Macau pharmacy said. "We replenish our stocks in the morning, but they're usually sold out by the afternoon."
In the pharmacy, a mainland customer wanting to buy 20 cans of milk powder was only allowed to buy two at a time, according to the website.
Some parents in Macau have been feeding their babies rice congee after their milk powder of choice sold out, because they didn't want to switch to another brand. The government should restrict milk powder exports to the mainland, parents suggested on local websites.
"Our government should levy a tax if visitors take more than one can of milk powder when they leave Macau," a web user surnamed Li wrote.
But scholars said such a tax would break promises Macau made when joining the World Trade Organization.
Also, around 4,000 smugglers go to Macau to buy milk powder every day, Chinanews.com said.
Industry insiders attribute the shortage to a combination of increased purchases from the mainland and a reduced milk powder supply in Hong Kong and Macau during the Spring Festival. Most shops stock more Spring Festival goods at this time, Southern Metropolis Daily said.
Official data shows that more than half the babies in China are given imported milk powder, following the melamine contamination scandal in 2008 that hit consumer confidence in domestic milk products.
Imported milk powder prices are much lower in Hong Kong and Macau than on the mainland.
Japanese milk powder can cost as little as 104 yuan in Hong Kong but 298 yuan in authorized shops on the mainland.
One web user shared her experience of buying milk in Hong Kong. "We put 12 cans of milk powder in three suitcases and went through customs without any problems. We were told that this was the most we could carry."
The shopping binge has left many popular imported brands sold out and prices for what remains are up 10 percent, Chinanews.com reported.
"Milk powder has been in short supply," a staff member at a Macau pharmacy said. "We replenish our stocks in the morning, but they're usually sold out by the afternoon."
In the pharmacy, a mainland customer wanting to buy 20 cans of milk powder was only allowed to buy two at a time, according to the website.
Some parents in Macau have been feeding their babies rice congee after their milk powder of choice sold out, because they didn't want to switch to another brand. The government should restrict milk powder exports to the mainland, parents suggested on local websites.
"Our government should levy a tax if visitors take more than one can of milk powder when they leave Macau," a web user surnamed Li wrote.
But scholars said such a tax would break promises Macau made when joining the World Trade Organization.
Also, around 4,000 smugglers go to Macau to buy milk powder every day, Chinanews.com said.
Industry insiders attribute the shortage to a combination of increased purchases from the mainland and a reduced milk powder supply in Hong Kong and Macau during the Spring Festival. Most shops stock more Spring Festival goods at this time, Southern Metropolis Daily said.
Official data shows that more than half the babies in China are given imported milk powder, following the melamine contamination scandal in 2008 that hit consumer confidence in domestic milk products.
Imported milk powder prices are much lower in Hong Kong and Macau than on the mainland.
Japanese milk powder can cost as little as 104 yuan in Hong Kong but 298 yuan in authorized shops on the mainland.
One web user shared her experience of buying milk in Hong Kong. "We put 12 cans of milk powder in three suitcases and went through customs without any problems. We were told that this was the most we could carry."
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