According to Korean media reports on the 20th, extreme weather such as rare high temperature, heavy rain and typhoon has caused the price of Korean cabbage to “ride on a rocket”, reaching a level of 9,000 won (regarding 50 Hong Kong dollars) this week. Under this circumstance, many South Koreans gave up pickling kimchi themselves, and Chinese kimchi became a salvage. Data show that in the first eight months of this year, South Korea imported Chinese kimchi totaling US$198.6 million, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%.
According to the Chosun Ilbo, on the 20th, data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Food of South Korea showed that taking the largest wholesale market of agricultural and fishery products in southeastern Seoul, the “Korak Market” as an example, in the middle of this month (11-19), cabbage The wholesale price of one piece has reached 8,992 won, which is another step up from the price of 7,900 won at the beginning of this month (1-10th), which is 1.2 times more expensive than a year ago.
Screenshot of the Chosun Ilbo report.
The retail price is higher. On the 19th, the price of a cabbage was 9,429 won (regarding 53 Hong Kong dollars), which was 62.9% higher than before. Therefore, many Korean media said that today’s cabbage is “golden cabbage”.
On South Korean social media, posts complaining regarding the rising price of cabbage have been increasing. Some merchants cried, “Because the price of cabbage has soared, I cry every day”; the owner of a sandwich shop felt helpless, “In a week, the price of six cabbages has risen from 58,000 won (regarding 326 Hong Kong dollars) to 73,000 won ( About HK$410), the situation is not very optimistic.”
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Food has analyzed the reasons and said that the local cabbage sold in this round is mainly produced in high-altitude areas. However, due to the influence of extreme weather such as rare high temperature, heavy rain and typhoon, the output of main cabbage producing areas has dropped significantly.
As the pickled kimchi season (November) is approaching, the market demand for Chinese cabbage is increasing, and its price is expected to rise further. In response, the South Korean government plans to release some of the vegetable reserves to stabilize prices. In order to stabilize the market, the South Korean government once added 10,000 tons of cabbage reserves to the market three weeks before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and provided another 1,300 tons following the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it still failed to restrain the upward trend of prices. “Dong-A Ilbo” pointed out that following the Mid-Autumn Festival, cabbage has become the only agricultural product in South Korea whose prices have soared.
In addition to cabbage, radishes and onions are also indispensable raw materials for pickled kimchi, but these two vegetables are also soaring in price. Coupled with the rising costs of energy and logistics, kimchi production enterprises are overwhelmed. After announcing in March this year that the price of finished kimchi will be increased by 5%-7%, it has recently decided to increase the price once more in the second half of the year. Earlier, South Korea’s Elephant Group announced that the price of “Zongjiafu” kimchi will increase by an average of 9.8% from the 1st of next month, and Cijie Foods has raised the price of “Bibigo” kimchi by an average of 11%.
The kimchi making season is approaching, and many South Koreans have given up pickling kimchi themselves and instead seek to buy kimchi processed by food companies. Recently, kimchi from many large supermarkets in South Korea has been snapped up.
“Asia Daily” pointed out that when the price of Korean domestic cabbage rose like a “rocket”, the relatively cheap Chinese kimchi became a savior. According to the import and export trade statistics of the Korea Customs Service, in the first eight months of this year, South Korea imported a total of 198.6 million US dollars of Chinese kimchi, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%. In particular, the import value of kimchi in a single month in August reached 13.376 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 41.1%. The customs office expects that the import volume of Chinese kimchi will continue to grow.
