With the Spring Festival only three days away, food prices at local
wet markets and supermarkets have risen noticeably - a not
un-common event in the lead up to this biggest Chinese holiday.
The price hikes are not deterring shoppers, however, as retail
sales during the last few days rose by 30 percent over a few weeks
ago.
This year, the lunar New Year Eve will fall on Friday. Since
there's only a few shopping days left before the most important
Chinese festival, people are busy purchasing food and gifts, while
retailers are enjoying the busy season.
Prices of vegetables and aquatic products increased by 10 to 20
percent at local wet markets, while those of poultry and pork have
remained unchanged, officials said.
"Because of the sudden temperature drop, prices of locally produced
vegetables have increased by 20 percent. But vegetables from other
provinces like Hainan and Fujian have helped stabilize the local
market," said Wang Xinkang, manager of the vegetable department of
Shanghai Cao'an Road Agricultural Food Market, the city's largest
vegetable wholesale market.
He
said the daily supply of vegetables in the market remains around
1,000 tons at present. Moreover, the price is expected to further
increase during the first three days of the festival because some
vegetable retailers will go back to their hometowns to celebrate
the holiday.
Many shoppers have their own way of dealing with the price
hikes.
"Usually, I will buy some food that won't go rotten easily several
days before the holiday, such as the bamboo shoots and tomatoes,"
said Zhou Pingguang, a housewife. "But even in this period the
retail price of bamboo shoots has surged by 25 percent."
That strategy doesn't work for aquatic products, however, as they
must be bought fresh.
Yang Jihua, sales manager of Shanghai Tongchuan Road Aquatic
Products Market, said the general price of aquatic products has
increased by 10 percent in recent days, while prices of hairy crabs
dropped 10 percent because of increased supply.
Shrimps, a local favorite, will become especially expensive during
the holiday due to the limited supply. The black tiger shrimp, for
example, is priced at 100 yuan (US$12) per kilogram, up 40 percent
from nor-mal, and the price may jump to 140 yuan during the
festival.
(eastday.com January 29, 2003)