I thought that one advantage of a country devaluing or having a lower valued currency was the ability to make the countries products cheaper on a overseas market. So does that actually work.
About 2 years ago when the OZ $ was about 92 to the USA $ a packet of weetbix was $6.40 . Yesterday at a supermarket I paid $7.60 and the OZ $ is at aprox .70.
Also about 2 years ago a packet of Flora [ original ] margarine [ made in Australia on the packet ] was about $3 .20 ,, now it is $3.90.

With the devaluation of the Dong and the Thai Baht one would think products from those countries would also be cheaper, but I don't see anything coming down in price.

With the USA $ being so strong and the OZ $ going down , why would you not import products like celery, lettuce and other fruit from Australia rather than USA.?

Lots of reasons. Reason 1 - things like Weetabix are long-life products, the savings in the supply chain take their time to filter through. Reason 2 - most wholesalers are in Vietnam and Thailand where the currency has also taken a hit... shoring up their business by keeping prices constant in Cambodia is sensible (nothing says you have to pass savings on to a customer). Reason 3 - contract lengths - many suppliers have multi-year contracts they don't get shoved out the door when the exchange rates fluctuate (so Aus doesn't automatically benefit from getting cheaper). Reason 4 - logistics, established well-used logistics routes can be much cheaper even if the goods are moved further than places where high-volume logistics aren't already operating. And so on...

Duncan, where do you get weetbix from? Have been to lucky, aeon, thai huot, etc, and have not found them anywhere.
Thanks

james ten wrote:Duncan, where do you get weetbix from? Have been to lucky, aeon, thai huot, etc, and have not found them anywhere.
Thanks

Everyone seems to be out of stock,,,, I got mine from Pencil S/M

Ok, I will keep an eye out for them thanks.
And yes, AUD is predicted to fall even further, it really sucks, everything is suddenly 30% more expensive compared to several years ago.

AUD is projected to hit 60c USD by Christmas, with parity not ever expected again in the forseeable decade. Source: every financial website. I don't know about other Aussies but we're hurting.

Reason 5 CARPET BAGGING. Thank f the locals don't eat Weetabix.(although they do buy many other things that are imported and so suffer from the above posters 4 reasons to f people over for personal profit - isn't that called profiteering BTW?) And the expats that can afford 'white' food can't be carpetbagged (or can they?)

Question: Would the supermarkets /importers make more profit if they charged say, 25% on top of their costs instead of 100 or so %. I might buy cereal if it wasn't so over the price I would pay in my native country's economy. I guess it begs the question of just how many people buy cereal every week that live in Cambodia. (any market survey companies here yet? or considered an unnecessary expense?) One thing's for sure , they won't get any new customers from the existing client base unless they reduce prices or give some other incentive. I guess most Cambodians (Sino-Khmer?) nowadays would rather sell one tin of beans for $100 than 100 tins for $1, less work for the same profit. And there's always the chance that 100 dumb bastards will come along and buy 100 cans at $100. Baked Bean Magnate.

juansweetpotato wrote:Reason 5 CARPET BAGGING. Thank f the locals don't eat Weetabix.(although they do buy many other things that are imported and so suffer from the above posters 4 reasons to f people over for personal profit - isn't that called profiteering BTW?) And the expats that can afford 'white' food can't be carpetbagged (or can they?)

Question: Would the supermarkets /importers make more profit if they charged say, 25% on top of their costs instead of 100 or so %. I might buy cereal if it wasn't so over the price I would pay in my native country's economy. I guess it begs the question of just how many people buy cereal every week that live in Cambodia. (any market survey companies here yet? or considered an unnecessary expense?) One thing's for sure , they won't get any new customers from the existing client base unless they reduce prices or give some other incentive. I guess most Cambodians (Sino-Khmer?) nowadays would rather sell one tin of beans for $100 than 100 tins for $1, less work for the same profit. And there's always the chance that 100 dumb bastards will come along and buy 100 cans at $100. Baked Bean Magnate.

In free markets, like this one, the market determines the price. You may not buy over-priced cereal but enough do to make it profitable. I don't bat an eye at imported good prices here... they're way, way cheaper than in China.

The funny thing is some of the imported goods from the U. S. are the same price or even cheaper than in the U. S. I am guessing they somehow skirt the import duty and or taxes? And I am always surprised at the prices of French Wine. They are comparatively cheap here.
BTW, as an importer in the U. S. (amongst other things) I was part of the supply chain. Retailers there don't work on 100% mark-up, more like 30 to 35%. Of course, the sales tax comes on top (except Florida) and is paid when checking out.
Pricing here is pretty intransparent. As for currency conversions, it was different not too long ago when the dollar was down. Europeans are still relatively well off, but the non-Euro countries, and maybe even them in a year or two, are hurting. So if you depend on income from OZ or NZ you probably got to pinch a little.

rubberbaron wrote:The funny thing is some of the imported goods from the U. S. are the same price or even cheaper than in the U. S.

Wow, at this I am shocked. Unless your buying at expensive stores. Can you give us some examples of things you've noticed that cost the same or cheaper?
I went to buy some ibuprofen a couple of months ago, and it just happened that the pharmacy owner had just returned from the States. She was trying to charge me 5c a tablet for 400mg. We had a discussion ( her English was excellent) . She showed me a bottle of 500 x 400mg ibuprofens she had purchased from Wallmart or some such place. They were $5 bucks for 500 or 1c a tab. That's even less than 100R (2.5c)/. And these are US supplied Brofens, The ones I buy are either Indian or Cambodian. And most of the lovely shopkeepers here are charging 7.5c or 10c a tab ( or trying to with me)