Top Biz News

Weather causes vegetable price hike

By Jin Zhu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-04 07:45

An increase in vegetable prices is expected in Beijing in the next two days due to the heavy snow yesterday.

According to statistics from Beijing Xinfadi Agro Wholesale Market yesterday, the prices of eight vegetables, including lettuce, rape and Chinese chives, have increased by 10 to 50 percent.

"Transportation became more difficult from the suburbs to the city as the snow became heavier. Therefore, the prices of the vegetables coming from Beijing's Daxing district and Hebei and Shandong provinces have been affected first," said Xie Lei, director of the Xinfadi Agro Wholesale Market.

At present, no obvious price change has occurred for more than 70 other vegetables in the market. No fruits also had price increases yet.

However, "the prices will go up in the next two days when suppliers from the South, such as Hainan, Anhui, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, enter North China with bad road conditions," Xie said.

The number of wholesalers in Xinfadi Agro Wholesale Market, the largest in Beijing, decreased by 30 percent yesterday. The situation was getting worse in other markets.

"Since it was extremely cold, only a few vendors came to the market this morning," said Wang Liming, director of Beijing Chengbei Huilongguan Dazhongsi Market.

"The price increases will continue until the coming spring festival. However, since the supply can be guaranteed, the prices should be rather stable or only with small increases in the future," he said.