Recently, the price of Feitian Moutai has been continuously declining, causing heavy losses for many distributors who had obtained goods at high prices. Some distributors had to sell at low prices for cash flow turnover, leading to losses of up to 300,000 yuan (RMB) in just half a month, equivalent to the price of a luxury car in China.
According to a report by Dahe Daily, a subsidiary of Henan Daily Newspaper Group, on December 17, the wholesale market price for a bottle of 53-degree Feitian Moutai reached an unprecedented guided price of 1499 yuan on December 10. Although the price rebounded slightly in the following days, market watchfulness remains strong.
One distributor told the media that in their eight years in the industry, it was the first time they had seen the wholesale price of Feitian Moutai actually touch below the guided price: “In the past, 1499 yuan was considered a psychological bottom line, everyone thought that falling to this level would have support, but this time it directly hit the bottom. Although it quickly rebounded, it made everyone more cautious.”
Distributors who had acquired goods at high prices are particularly distressed.
For example, Boss Zhang, engaged in a tobacco and liquor shop as well as a fine wine recycling business in Jinshui District of Luoyang, purchased around a hundred cases of Moutai a few months ago at around 2100 yuan per bottle, believing there would be demand during the peak season at the end of the year. However, with the recent drop in Moutai prices, he had to lower the selling price due to cash flow needs. He said, “I sold a portion a couple of days ago at around 1480 yuan each. Losing over 600 yuan per bottle, that batch alone lost over 300,000 yuan.” Boss Zhang stated that if the remaining inventory were sold at the current market price, his accumulated losses would be a significant sum.
Reports indicate that in several major liquor trading WeChat groups, there is not much demand for buying Moutai, but more information on “shipping out” and “realizing cash.” At the same time, distributors continue to face pressure from e-commerce platforms offering discounts and promotions.
Industry insiders analyzed to the media that short-term low-price activities on e-commerce platforms, combined with the year-end demand for capital recovery, are among the reasons leading to the concentrated shipments in offline channels.
According to today’s liquor price information, on December 18, the price of Feitian Moutai showed a slight rebound, with an increase of about 10 yuan per bottle.