Due to the influence of high temperatures, this year’s Chinese mitten crab sizes are relatively smaller, resulting in higher prices for larger crabs compared to previous years. However, following the National Day holiday, the prices of mitten crabs in many regions have plummeted, with some areas seeing price decreases of over 1/3 from before the holiday.
According to a report from Red Star News, the extreme high temperatures this year have caused the mitten crab production to decrease by about one-fifth, and the time of listing has been delayed by approximately half a month compared to previous years. This led to higher prices for mitten crabs just before the National Day holiday at the end of September.
Ran Qinpeng, the person in charge of the mitten crab farming base at Chengdu Big Stomach King Agricultural Group Co., Ltd., mentioned that when they first listed their half-pound female crabs, the price per crab was 120 yuan. After the National Day holiday, the prices of mitten crabs have declined, with the current price being 75 yuan per pound, slightly more expensive than the same period last year. Ran said, “There are still around 40% of mitten crabs waiting to be sold at the base, and the prices are expected to continue to decrease.”
According to Temperature News, it was recently found at a seafood market in Wenzhou that with a large number of mitten crabs entering the market, prices have sharply dropped compared to the previous month, with a decrease of over 1/3.
“These mitten crabs all arrived fresh this morning, and now is the peak time for a large quantity to enter the market, so the prices are quite affordable,” said Zhou Lei, who has been in the mitten crab business for many years. Since the listing on September 10th, the prices have been decreasing daily. With the increase in supply in October, mitten crab prices have dropped by over 1/3 compared to the previous month.
Zhou Lei further explained, “For a 2.5-liang mitten crab, the price has dropped by over 15 yuan per kilogram compared to last month when it was listed. Currently, the price for a 2.5-liang male crab is 38 yuan per kilogram, and a 3.5-liang male crab is priced at 55 yuan per kilogram, with around 200 kilograms being sold per day.”
A seafood vendor in Wuhan told Extreme Vision News that after the holiday, the prices of crabs in the market have noticeably dropped. The best-selling crabs post-holiday are the 3.5-liang male crabs and 2.5-liang female crabs, priced at 15 yuan and 13 yuan respectively, and even crabs priced at less than 10 yuan are selling well.
The vendor mentioned that these low prices appeared about a week earlier than in previous years.
Ms. Zhang, a mitten crab seller at Qingshiqiao Seafood Market in Chengdu, told Red Star News, “It is expected that in another week, the prices of mitten crabs will further drop by around 10%.”