China: Price of celery drops by 50%

Because of the gradual increase of vegetables present on the market, the price for vegetables has st…

Because of the gradual increase of vegetables present on the market, the price for vegetables has started to fall. The recent price drop is relatively visible for Western celery, because, according to new statistics on the market, celery has dropped in price by 13.33% which is 53.57% lower than last year. Liu Tong from the market statistics department explains that the current wholesale price for celery is between 1.2 and 1.4 RMB per kilogram and that its price has reached its lowest point for several years.

All the celery currently on the market comes from the city of Shenyang in Lioaning province, and more specifically from Xinmin county. In comparison to last year, this year's price for celery is not even half of last year's. The reason for this substantial price drop for celery is because of the 'magician's spell of big and small years' for agricultural by-products: because the price for celery last year was relatively high and peasant households earned a relatively good profit, this year they have expanded their plantations.

Based on market predictions, the surface used for celery this year has doubled in size compared to last year, leading the price to be cut in half. Moreover, this year between autumn and winter the price for Chinese celery was also relatively low so this had an impact on the price of Western celery. The cultivation area in Shandong province has also grown since last year, bringing about a recent celery price that is also rather low. Against this background, it is difficult for the celery price to rise again, so it will probably keep running at a low point for a while.