China
October 22, 2010

Source: www.cnr.cn via Ministry of Agriculture, China

According to the column of News and Newspaper Abstracts on the website of China National Radio, the price of Chinese cabbage has been soaring in the Republic of Korea (ROK) due to substantial reduction in the output of Chinese cabbage and radish resulting from weather conditions and ensuing serious shortage in the supply of raw materials for making the traditional kimchi in autumn. In order to address this “kimchi crisis”, ROK has temporarily abolished the import tariff of 30 percent to import Chinese cabbage from China as an emergency response action.

The insiders noted that the slight rise in the price of Chinese cabbage in China was not a direct result of the Korean kimchi crisis, but the late marketing of this vegetable in many places because of this rainy summer. During the interview process, a lot of citizens said that fluctuation in vegetable prices was quite normal and slight rise was also acceptable and would not affect their daily life.

However, the import of Chinese cabbage of ROK has offered good business opportunities to some vegetable growers and agricultural enterprises. All the harvest of Chinese cabbage and radish in some provinces, including Shandong and Zhejiang, has been ordered at increased prices.

According to experts, the situation in ROK would make little impact on the Chinese cabbage market in China since ROK has a population of just over 50 million and thus the import demand is limited.

Website: http://www.agri.gov.cn

Published: October 22, 2010