Abalone price plummets in China

July 4, 2013 Leave a comment

Abalone price plummets in China

Staff Reporter

2013-07-04

The Chinese government’s anti-corruption and frugality policy has had a significant effect on prices of luxury food products but the price of abalone and sea cucumbers have plummeted by 50%, reports the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China. “The food doesn’t sell well in big hotels but it is widely available, so how can it command a high price?” said a man who bought 20 abalones, a type of edible sea snails, at only 60 yuan (US$10) in a traditional market in Shanghai. In addition to abalones and sea cucumbers, other luxury items including Chinese liquor and tea leaves have seen their prices drop between 40-60% since May. An expert in aquaculture industry said that there may be two reasons to explain the drop of abalone prices, one being the government-led frugality campaign announced in December aimed at curbing consumption that uses public funds, among other purposes. While the excessive number of people raising abalones and other luxury seafood can also be seen as a cause for the oversupply this year.

 

Filed under Macro Trends

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