The last week of May is the time of year when open-field cherries enter the Chinese market in large volumes. However, the market conditions were not great for greenhouse cherries and now the market for open-field cherries looks bleak. In Shandong the price of Chinese cherries already dropped below 10 yuan [1.57 USD] per 0.5 kg. The supply volume is huge and sales conditions are not great. That is why the price of poor quality cherries dropped as low as 5 yuan [0.78 USD] per 0.5 kg.
If the price in wholesale markets is low, the price in production areas is even lower. Some farmers report purchase prices of Red Lantern cherries around 5-6 yuan [0.78-0.94 USD] per 0.5 kg and, even with prices that low, the enthusiasm of visiting buyers is not very high.
When domestic cherries first entered the Chinese market earlier this year the price was still around 60 yuan [9.41 USD] per 0.5 kg. In less than a month the price dropped fivefold. Everybody knows the huge price fluctuations in the cherry market, but this year is extreme. The price simply plummeted.
Some experts say that the price collapse and the expanded production volume are the result of weak consumer power. In previous years the domestic cherry market flourished and farmers rapidly expanded the overall surface area devoted to cherry plantation.
