Surging oil prices push Hong Kong’s laundry sector to freeze hiring, halt orders

Surging oil prices are driving up costs for Hong Kong’s laundry sector, with the tripling of fuel prices forcing some operators to turn down new orders and freeze hiring. An industry representative said on Monday that the price of industrial diesel, commonly known as “red diesel”, had surged from about HK6 (80 US cents) per litre in late February to as high as HK17.50 in early April – an increase of more than 190 per cent in just over a month.