There is little more than a week until the Mid-Autumn Festival [10 September, 2022]. Fruit sellers are busy stocking fruit in preparation for peak sales. The number of buyers in Guangzhou Fruit Wholesale Market has gone up and trade is bustling. The prices of many fruits are going up in the period leading up to Mid-Autumn Festival and product movement is excellent.
Seedless pomegranate and Autumn Moon pears are popular during the festive period, but their supply seasons have only just started. The supply volume this week is significantly larger than last week. They are often sold in elegant gift boxes.
The price of seedless pomegranates and Autumn Moon pears is not much higher than last week, but product movement is quicker now. In addition, the number of stalls that sell red pomelo from Thailand has gone up. Red pomelo are a typical Mid-Autumn Festival gift. Persimmon also sell well, but their delivery volume is much smaller than the other festive fruits.
Gift boxes of domestic apples (left) and seedless pomegranates (right)
The sales conditions of imported apples and oranges improved compared to last week. The price of import apples is stable and there are no major fluctuations. The price level this week is more or less the same as last week, but the sales volume grew. The price of South African oranges increased slightly and product movement is much better than last week. South African Cambria oranges in particular are quite expensive and still very popular because the product quality is stable and the appearance is quite festive. The price of Australian oranges is stable. The supply volume is not great, but delivery is steady. (Photo right: South African grapefruit)
The price of Australian tangerines dropped by 30%-40% since the peak period of sales. The price is now stable and product movement is better than last week. However, the traders who buy Australian tangerines mostly come from other provinces and recent outbreaks of Covid-19 have made it impossible for them to reach the market. This has an impact on the sales volume.
The current price of South African grapefruit is 110-150 yuan [15.93-21.72 USD] per box. The differences depend on the size of the delivery volume and general market conditions. One trader said that the price was previously as low as 70-80 yuan [10.13-11.58 USD] per box, but has since recovered.
Import oranges
The impact of the Mid-Autumn Festival is negligible for imported lemons and product movement is rather slow at the moment. One trader pointed out that traditional yellow lemons suffer from the rise of fragrant lemons in the last two years. In addition, a number of second-grade wholesale markets and traders buy their import lemons directly from the supplier, so the volume of lemons in first-grade wholesale markets has gone down.
The product movement of import cherries from the US has quickened somewhat because of the approaching festival, but the impact is limited. Even though the product quality is great, the price is rather high, and product movement is still relatively slow. One trader explained that Canadian cherries will soon enter the Chinese market and that will have an impact on the market conditions of US cherries.
The price of Peruvian blueberries increased this week because of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but also because the delivery volume is smaller this week. There were two days when the Peruvian blueberries were completely sold out. Demand exceeds supply and so the price goes up. (Photo right: US cherries)
As for domestic fruits, the price of Xinjiang plums went up because of Mid-Autumn Festival, but also because the delivery volume declined this week. The price briefly dropped, but then started to go up. Product movement is much better now compared to last week. Small apples from Xinjiang entered the market this week. They are available in a large number of market stands.
Xinjiang plums
The market also offers domestic apples from Yunnan and Shandong. They are packed in gift boxes and the price is rather high, but the flavor is excellent.