Strictly preventing plastic bag hoarding and price gouging, Tainan City inspects 39 businesses

In response to potential international market fluctuations that could impact plastic bag prices and availability, Tainan City's Department of Economic Development has launched a proactive inspection campaign. The bureau is meticulously examining 22 retail outlets and 17 plastic bag manufacturers to ensure market stability and prevent any opportunistic hoarding or price gouging. This swift action underscores the city's commitment to safeguarding consumers and maintaining order in the supply chain.

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Tainan City Government has made early deployments and strengthened cross-agency cooperation to fully grasp the supply situation from the source to the channels, strictly preventing hoarding or price gouging.

Central government initiatives are also in play, with a special program to ensure affordable plastic bags now rolling out. Retailers like Xiaobei Department Store and Zhenyu Hardware have reported increased restocking efforts, leading to a gradual easing of market tightness. While some price adjustments have occurred, attributed to the rising costs of upstream raw materials, the inspections have thus far revealed no instances of deliberate hoarding or artificial inflation. This suggests that the market is responding to genuine cost pressures rather than speculative behavior.

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We will continue to dynamically monitor market supply and demand and price changes, and maintain close contact with the central government to launch an investigation mechanism in a timely manner when necessary.

Mayor Huang Wei-che emphasized the city's preparedness and inter-agency cooperation in monitoring the supply from source to retail. The Department of Economic Development, led by Director Chang Ting-yuan, will continue to track market dynamics and maintain close communication with the central government. The current price increases, estimated at 20-30% for plastic pellets due to global supply and quota mechanisms, are seen as a reflection of production costs. The city urges businesses to price products reasonably and maintain stable supply, while appealing to the public for rational consumption to collectively uphold market order.

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Recently, plastic raw materials (plastic pellets) have seen a price increase of about 20 to 30 percent due to international supply and quota mechanisms, but the overall supply chain still operates stably.