The Chinese fruit market suffered from frequent extreme weather conditions as well as the general economic malaise that followed the outbreak of Covid-19 earlier. The sales of common fruits such as apples are facing difficulties this year. This is not just because the overall production volume of Chinese apples is huge, but often the apples from various production areas enter the market at the same time, which causes short periods of excessive supply when there is significant pressure on the apple price. In addition, the average price level of Chinese fruit is relatively low this year. Chinese consumers have a lot of choice in the fruit market.
"It is our understanding that extreme weather conditions, such as the frost in April, have had an impact on the production volume in many apple production areas, as well as on the product quality. Some of the apples look less than ideal. Furthermore, some of the apples are split and others have fallen off the trees. That means that the percentage of top-quality apples is relatively low this year." This is according to Mr. Wang Gangchun of Yantai City Muping Lufeng Agricultural Plantation Co., Ltd.
Golden Fuji apple
"The price of Gala apples from Yantai is currently around 1.20 yuan [0.17 USD] per 0.5 kg. The price was still as high as 2 yuan [0.29 USD] per 0.5 kg around this time last year. That is a decline of 40%. Other than that, the price of apples from refrigerated storage showed a rising trend last year and by May or June there was only a small volume of apples left in reserve. This year, however, there is still a large volume of apples in storage. The trade volume is limited. Visiting traders are extremely cautious."
Yantai Muping Lufeng Agricultural Plantation is located in Yantai, Shandong. Their apple orchard mainly produces golden Fuji apples. This is the fifth year that the orchard produces this apple variety. "The apple market does not look good this year, but we are still quite pleased with our apples. We believe that the unique characteristics of our apples and their high product quality will help us conquer the market no matter the circumstances."
For more information:
Wang Gangchun
Yantai Muping Lufeng Agricultural Plantation
Tel.: +86 131 8878 2275
E-mail: 279356772@qq.com