The wholesale price of Chinese spinach in the Beijing Xinfadi Market was around 0.3-1.2 yuan [0.04-0.17 USD] per 0.5 kg on the 3rd of April. The price was only around 0.5-0.9 yuan [0.07-0.13 USD] per 0.5 kg in the previous week (27 March). The price increased by 7.14% in one week. However, the price was still 0.7-2.1 yuan [0.1-0.3 USD] per 0.5 kg around this time last year, which means that the price fell by 46.43% in comparison with the same period last year.
The main supply of Chinese spinach currently comes from Liaocheng in Shandong, Handan and Xianghe in Hebei, and Wuqing district in Tianjin. The price of spinach was quite high in the spring of last year, so many farmers expanded the surface area devoted to spinach plantation. The supply volume from Liaocheng in Shandong was significantly larger after spring this year in comparison with last year. The price was therefore lower than around this time last year. Although the outbreak of COVID-19 did affect the price of spinach, the price rise was only short-lived. In the end the price declined because the production volume increased.
The production areas in Liaocheng were already in the last stage of the production season in late March. The long-stemmed spinach from Handan in Hebei entered the market in late March and the price immediately began to fall. Only more recently did the price of spinach slowly rise again.
Spinach supplies from Beijing and surrounding areas can last until the end of June. Production areas in Xinghe county, Ulaanchab, Inner Mongolia, take over in July. One supply season should flawlessly follow the other, provided that weather conditions remain regular. Spinach plants like colder weather. The price of summer spinach is therefore usually higher than in spring and autumn.
Source: Jinri Toutiao