Winter-storage cabbage hits the market at double the price, how much is one jin this year?

As the weather gets colder and colder, many people have already started stockpiling vegetables for the winter. Recently, reporters visited various places and learned that as the main winter vegetable——napa cabbage, its price has once again risen sharply this year, with the price of cabbage in the same period more than double that of the same period last year.

Everyone likes to use “cabbage price” to describe something as cheap and affordable, so why is this most affordable of vegetables no longer at a “cabbage price” this year?

Wang Yuzhong is a farmer in **Quanshuidi Village, Beiting Town, Jimsar County. Every year after the summer grain harvest, he plants winter-storage napa cabbage. These past two days, ** began seeing heavy snowfall over large areas, with snow depth exceeding 1 m in some areas. Affected by road traffic, the price of winter-storage napa cabbage also began to climb. From 4 mao per kg in October when nobody asked about it, it has now risen to 5 mao per kg, and it is still fairly sought after.

Wang Yuzhong: This year I planted 35 mu of winter-storage napa cabbage. The weather this year was good, with plenty of rain and late snow, and the cabbage grew well, with big heads, full growth and good color, but the price is a bit lower than last year. When we started harvesting in October, the wholesale price was only a bit over 3 mao, 4 mao. These past few days with the snow, the price has come up too, all over 5 mao per kg. On price, last year was a bit better, at 5 mao per kg right when it came out of the field.

Monitoring data shows that from October to November the price of cabbage first fell and then rose. As of November 17, trimmed cabbage in the main production areas of Shandong and Hubei was around 0.28 yuan/jin and around 0.60 yuan/jin respectively, up 127% and 114% year-on-year respectively. Du Juan, market analyst at Yimutian:

Du Juan: Over the past month, the average price of cabbage in the country's main production areas has shown a moderate upward trend. On November 17, 2016, the average price of cabbage was 0.33 yuan/jin, up 3% from the same period last week and up 9% from the same period last month. Last year, because the climate conditions were relatively good, cabbage yield per mu increased, and this year's cabbage market is still fairly good.

In Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong Province, vegetable dealer Liu Bing told reporters that the price is more than double last year's, all because this year's cabbage output is not as good as in previous years.

Liu Bing: This year the price of napa cabbage is much higher, twice last year's. Untrimmed cabbage is around 1 mao 8. Because vegetables from the south have just come onto the market, resources are relatively tight, and everyone is coming here to buy goods. This year the market is good, and purchase volume is large. Our Shandong vegetables are all shipped to Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places. This year's output is not as good as last year, the output is low.

Cabbage, the most ordinary vegetable, compared with high-economic-value varieties such as cucumber and tomato, because of low planting costs and easy management, has its annual planting area easily affected by market fluctuations in previous years. He Tan, market analyst at Zhuochuang Information, said that in addition, vegetables in the south suffered from severe weather this year, causing the already reduced cabbage market supply and demand to be tight.

He Tan: First, this year the cabbage planting area in Shandong's main production area decreased slightly compared with last year, by about 10%; second, some areas saw reduced output. Taking Feicheng area as an example, local cabbage output this year was about 9,000 jin per mu, a reduction of 1,000 jin from previous years, a decrease of 10%. Cabbage output in Hubei area was likewise lower than last year; third, demand is strong. After entering October, many places in the south had continuous rain, and vegetable growth was greatly affected, especially leafy vegetables such as cabbage and spinach. A large number of southern customers went to various production areas to reserve and purchase in advance; fourth, storage activities are active. After entering November, storage households began purchasing cabbage for storage, and cabbage trading volume is relatively large.

At present, cabbage from production areas such as Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi and the three northeastern provinces has begun to come onto the market in large quantities. He Tan predicts that this winter is a big year for winter-storage cabbage prices, and it is expected that there will be no shortage of possibilities for further price increases in the future market. Farmers can seize the opportunity and make a small profit.

He Tan: From November to December, the market volume of Shandong cabbage will gradually increase. With reduced output and strong demand in the southern market, there is a possibility that cabbage prices will rise further. Growers can sell their stock in batches to obtain greater returns.