Due to the ongoing torrential rains and floods in the southern regions of China, vegetable prices have increased sharply and will possibly see a dramatic surge in the near future, the Economic Information Daily said Tuesday.
Some vegetable prices this week in major markets of Wuhan Province rose by an excess of 30 percent compared to the previous week.
Monitoring data showed that prices of seven main commodities have increased sharply in this week. The top five experiencing price hikes are cabbage, asparagus, bitter melon, leaf lettuce and carrots, which have risen by percentages of 36.8, 34.6, 23.5, 23 and 22.7, respectively.
Vegetable production has been sharply reduced by the inclement weather, resulting in higher prices. Market feedback has shown that further heavy rains will cause a significant though short-term surge in the price of vegetables.
Tan Moxiao, an economist at the Xinhua News Agency, said that vegetable supply in some flood-hit areas mainly depends on transportation from other places, which has caused prices to remain at a high level. Vegetables may possibly fall slightly in price if the weather gradually improves.
Global Times