The price of watermelons has steadily decreased throughout the country in the last month as open-field watermelons entered the market. The average price of watermelons in domestic production areas is 5.5 yuan [0.81 USD] per 0.5 kg. Around the same time last year that price was only 4.4 yuan [0.65 USD] per 0.5 kg. The overall conditions are better this year than they were last year. It is only recently that continuous rainfall has worsened the conditions on the watermelon market. Watermelons and other agricultural products all encountered problems in the market and during transport as a result of the rain.
Du Juan, market analyst at Yimutian, stated the following: the continuous rainfall affects the harvest and transport of watermelons; purchasing traders are not enthusiastic; furthermore, low temperatures mean that consumer demand for watermelons has fallen. These two reasons have created difficult market conditions where the supply of watermelons decreased and purchasing traders lost their enthusiasm. Yimutian data also shows that the enthusiasm of purchasing traders has dropped by 30% in the last two weeks.
Source: cnr.cn