Chinese Food Prices Rising from Snow
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Rising food prices due to heavy snow in China give farmers extra money and consumers an added burden.
CHAN:
For most Chinese people, at least in cities, the recent surge in food prices has been less than appealing. But here at one of the country’s biggest wholesale vegetable markets, many see a silver lining.
STORY:
Everyday, thousands of truckers and even more farmers gather at Shouguang’s sprawling complex of open-air warehouses. They bring their produce from near and far then transport the goods further north in the mainland.
And there’s good news for these merchants as of late. National inflation, snow, and a bigger demand for food ahead of the New Year gives these people more bargaining power, and more money in their pockets.
Guo Mingqian is a manager at the market.
[Guo Mingqian, Manager, Shouguang Wholesale Market]:
“Most of Southern China is having huge snow at the moment. The trucks for delivering vegetables are not able to make it here because of the snow. So we have a lot less trucks in this market getting vegetables to us. This leads to the rising of prices.”
The farmers, traders and drivers at Shouguang can count themselves lucky. The town has been spared the snow-inflicted chaos seen in provinces further south. The weather has destroyed crops and cut off roads there.
If anything, the fact that many trucks have not been able to deliver produce here has given a boost to local farmers, as it has shrunk the overall supply.
Wang Wankai owns a greenhouse in Sanyuanzhu village. He says if vegetable prices weren’t going up in general, he wouldn’t be able to afford a greenhouse like the one he has.
[Wang Wankai, Greenhouse Farmer]:
“If I grow vegetables, I make about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan a year. This is 10 times the income of growing grain. So growing vegetables is much more profitable and my living conditions can go up more rapidly.”
While vegetable prices grew nearly 29 percent in the year to November nationwide, those for meat and poultry were up close to 39 percent.
Those items together have been responsible for much of the surge in overall consumer inflation to the fastest pace in over a decade.
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