Recently, mainland China has seen a decrease in prices for fruits such as durian and lychee. As June began, watermelons also saw a significant price drop, with prices as low as a few cents per pound.
On June 5th, according to a report by “China News Network,” consumers revealed that at the start of June, watermelon prices had dropped to just a few cents per pound. Watermelons that were priced at 5 yuan per pound just two weeks ago are now being sold on the roadside for only 1.5 yuan.
On the 4th, prices at a fresh agricultural product distribution center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, showed that seeded and seedless “Sweet King” watermelons were priced at 0.6 yuan per pound and 1 yuan per pound respectively. Seeded and seedless “Kirin” melons were priced at 1.5 yuan per pound and 1.8 yuan per pound respectively, while the price for small cucumbers was 1.7 yuan per pound.
At retail, seedless “Kirin” melons were priced at 2.5 yuan per pound and seeded “Sweet King” watermelons at 0.8 yuan per pound.
Ms. Wang, a watermelon wholesaler from Xinyang, Henan Province, mentioned that this year, different varieties of watermelons are cheaper, considerably so compared to previous years. Last year at this time, seedless “Kirin” melons were selling for over 2 yuan per pound at wholesale, while this year, many watermelons have retail prices lower than last year’s wholesale prices.
Prices at supermarkets are also dropping. On the 4th, inside a chain supermarket in Beijing, cantaloupes were sold at 0.99 yuan per pound, and red “Kirin” melons were as low as 2.99 yuan per pound. However, the prices for Pangezhuang watermelons, small sugar ball watermelons, and Ganmei 4K watermelons remained relatively high.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on June 4th, the national average wholesale price of watermelons was 3.74 yuan per kilogram, a decrease of over 30% from 5.70 yuan per kilogram a month ago.
Ms. Wang mentioned that watermelons began to hit the market in mid-April, with prices holding up initially. However, prices started to decline in May, with prices dropping almost daily. She said, “For instance, the melons that I used to sell for 80 cents per pound in the fields, by the time they were brought back, the prices had dropped to 70 cents, 60 cents, and even 50 cents.”
Why are watermelons so cheap? Zhao Junye, the chief analyst of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ market analysis and early warning team for fruit varieties, stated that due to temperature issues in some producing areas, the timing of watermelon market entry has been delayed. Compared to previous years when watermelons entered the market in mid-April, this year the entry was delayed to late April or even May, with May and June being the peak times for watermelon production.
Additionally, as watermelon prices were relatively high last year, it is expected that there has been an expansion in watermelon cultivation areas this year, leading to increased production, thus affecting prices. Zhao Junye believes that retail prices are expected to continue to decline in the near future.
Several watermelon wholesalers have also indicated that this year’s price decrease is due to an abundance of supply, with watermelons being in surplus.