The surface area devoted to Satsuma mandarin plantation in Nanfeng County is close to 47 thousand hectares. The annual production volume is around 1.3 billion kg with an overall value that exceeds 10 billion yuan [1.42 billion USD]. However, this year the summer included heavy rainfall. The production volume in Nanfeng County declined by 10%. Based on price developments in previous years the price was expected to rise, but in some flooded areas the price dropped.
Industry sources explained that the price of Satsuma mandarins is already quite high and with the reduced production volume the price further increased by 0.3 yuan [0.04 USD] per 0.5 kg. Furthermore, the production volumes of Satsuma mandarins in Hunan and Hubei declined by as much as 50% or 60% as a result of frost last year. However, the price still declined in some production areas because the severe weather affected product quality. The effect of heavy rainfall was quite severe in Nanfeng County and the product quality of Satsuma mandarins suffered.
Source: tv.cctv.com/cctv2