Money

Freezer to keep lid on veggie costs

By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-07 08:00

The biggest outdoor market in Beijing will build a refrigerated storage facility to store six tons of vegetables, enough to keep the market supplied with produce for as long as a month.

The cool storage space for the Xinfadi agricultural products wholesale market in the Fangshan district in southwest Beijing could cost as much as 80 million yuan.

The timetable for the project has not been released.

"The new refrigerated storage facility will be able to meet at least a month's vegetable market requirement," Zhang Yuxi, the general manager of the Xinfadi market, was quoted by the Beijing News as saying.

Zhang said the storage capability at the market is much less than one ton - only enough to support the market a maximum of two days.

Vegetables such as potatoes, Chinese cabbage, onions and garlic will be stored in the facility, said a secretary surnamed Yang from the general manager's office. The new storage plan will help stabilize prices in Beijing's markets and ensure constant vegetable supplies, which are vulnerable to swings in climate and weather, Yang said.

"We can store the fresh vegetables for a couple of weeks to a month before putting them on the market. Then the prices will stay at a relatively stable and reasonable level, if we keep a steady supply on the market."

This year, Beijing experienced its snowiest winter since the founding of New China. The snow hit supplies of some agricultural products in the capital. Transport of goods to the capital is particularly vulnerable to bad weather.

"The new storage is important to stabilize vegetable prices and supply," Yang added.

Vegetable prices are higher this year compared to the same period last year in Beijing. The Beijing agricultural information center said the average vegetable price was 3.23 yuan per kg at the end of March in the capital, an increase of almost 20 percent over the same time last year, local media reported.

Still, the average price in the Xinfadi market was down to 2.30 yuan per kg by the middle of April.

According to a press release from the market, the highest price for Chinese cabbage in Beijing's history was paid this winter because of the heavy snowfall in November.

"Most new cabbage was frozen on the farms before harvest, and the stored cabbage sold out at the highest prices in a short time," the release said.