The price of Chinese leeks dropped to less than half the price of last year. This is the lowest point in five years. The wholesale price of leek currently available in the Chinese market is around 0.4-0.7 yuan [0.06-0.10 USD]. The purchase price in production areas is even lower. In some areas the price is only 0.2-0.3 yuan [0.03-0.04 USD] per 0.5 kg. The purchase price does not even cover the production cost, let alone rent on farmland, the purchase of seeds, fertilizer, and labor cost. Farmers calculate a loss of more than 1000 yuan [142.27 USD] per 0.07 hectare.
Conditions in the leek market were quite alright last year, which encouraged farmers to increase production. This year the production volume is quite large. Many production areas switched to large-scale leek production, not just in Shandong and Hebei, but in Henan, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia as well. Farmers all followed the trend and purchased large volumes of seeds. The overall surface area devoted to leek plantation increased by 40% in comparison with last year. Furthermore, the weather conditions were perfect for leek plantation this year. The market supply of leeks is huge and the price keeps falling.
Source: Sohu