Economy

Salt prices back to normal in China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-21 09:32

BEIJING - Salt prices in China, driven by panic buying amid radiation fears from Japan, have dropped to normal levels, Xinhua's price monitoring system indicated Sunday.

According to Xinhua's price monitoring system for agricultural and sideline products, salt prices in the country, which rocketed this week due to fears about radiation which was unleashed from Japan's crippled nuclear power plant, have returned to normal levels.

Related readings:  Salt market order back to normal: MOC  Rush to buy salt ends with a pinch of reason  Salt buying recedes as supply increased  Authorities try to dilute salt-buying panic

With consumers' panic basically eliminated and rumors dispelled, the sales of salt have dropped sharply and market order has been restored, data from the price monitoring system indicated.

China's salt sales totaled 82,000 tons Saturday, sharply down by 138,000 tons from Friday, according to figures from China National Salt Industry Corporation (CNSIC).

CNSIC also said that current salt stocks stand at 1,220,000 tons, basically at the same level as the day before.

Although Chinese authorities repeatedly reassured the public that radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant were not affecting the country, shelves for salt were emptied in many grocery stores across the country.

The panic shoppers were either hoping to ward off radiation poisoning by consuming iodized salt or worried that China's sea salt would be contaminated by Japan's radiation leak.