Typhoon Bualoi and the typhoon-triggered flooding across the Northern and North Central regions have resulted in not only significant damage from inundation, landslides, and traffic disruption, but have also directly impacted the circulation and supply of essential goods.
Acknowledging the potential for shortages, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien today issued a formal telegram demanding a concerted effort across the entire industry to ensure supply, maintain market stability, and adequately meet consumer demand during the current period of severe weather and in anticipation of the upcoming year-end and Lunar New Year holidays.
Minister Nguyen Hong Dien mandated that Departments of Industry and Trade closely monitor market developments. They are instructed to utilize disaster prevention reserves, in combination with social resources, to provide swift support to isolated areas. Furthermore, they must direct commercial businesses to develop mobile sales plans, strengthen the coordination of goods from less-affected regions, and assess local supply capacity to establish robust contingency plans. The Market Management Force is tasked with rigorous monitoring and prompt handling of any acts of speculation, hoarding, or unreasonable price increases exploiting the natural disaster situation.
Regarding businesses, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien requested an increase in production capacity and the preparation of specific supply plans. Priority must be given to high-demand items, including food, foodstuffs, essential consumer goods, construction materials, fuel (gasoline), and energy. Businesses are also expected to proactively increase reserves to meet the anticipated surge in demand leading up to the 2026 Lunar New Year.
The distribution sector is required to coordinate commodity sources across their systems, prioritize transport to affected areas, and strictly implement the market stabilization program. Key petroleum traders have been issued a strict directive to absolutely ensure uninterrupted supply, sell strictly at the listed price, and fully comply with all reserve regulations.
In response to the directive and to actively stabilize the market, major businesses and distribution systems have quickly initiated action. Notably, WinCommerce (owner of the WinMart and WinMart+ chains) has announced plans to increase the volume of fresh food including vegetables and meat by 50 percent. Concurrently, they are adding a 20 percent buffer of essential shelf-stable goods such as instant noodles, fish sauce, cooking oil, and spices at sales points in storm-affected areas, including Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh.
