Multi-site collective price increase of agricultural products will focus on regulation

According to information released by the Ministry of Commerce, affected by severe weather such as cold and heavy fog, as well as cyclical and seasonal factors, the prices of edible agricultural products have risen significantly since the beginning of this year. In January, the national consumer price level rose by 2% year-on-year, of which food prices rose 2.9%.

According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, the prices of edible agricultural products in 36 large and medium-sized cities nationwide have rebounded. The average price of the 18 kinds of vegetables monitored rose by 16.7% from the previous month and rose by 0.9% year-on-year; the wholesale prices of fresh pork, beef, lamb, and eggs rose by 5%, 2.9%, 2.2%, and 1.4% respectively.

Railway freight prices rise 13% of agricultural products most affected

From the 20th onwards, the average freight rate per metric ton of railway freight was increased by one point and five cents per kiloton, and the rate of increase was nearly 13%, far exceeding market expectations. The market expects that many commodities are "Northern Freight and Southern Freight." After the railway freight prices are raised, the cost of commodities such as grains, steel, and coal in the south will rise to varying degrees.

The reporter learned that the increase in the price of railway freight has the greatest impact on agricultural products “Northern cargo and southern transport”. “The rail transport is mainly from northeast to south inland, or from northeast to north ports. This will raise the grain purchase price in the port. Due to the increase in the overall transportation cost of grain, it will indirectly affect the shipping cost.” Zhuo Chuang Information Agricultural Product Analyst Sun Guangmei Indicated. Among many agricultural products, corn has the largest amount of traffic and may be the most affected.

Who is going to boost every festival?

"Windfall" weakens the regulatory effect

A number of business households in the “Zhongcai” fruit wholesale market in Nanjing told reporters that in recent years, the “green channel” for agricultural and sideline products opened by the government has reduced the logistics costs, and the hardware facilities in the wholesale markets of big cities have also been “upgraded”, like Zhongcai Market. The construction of large-scale cold storage facilities and convenient logistics facilities has greatly increased the transaction volume, but the fees have also been greatly increased, and the increased costs have finally been reflected in vegetable prices.

"Hidden costs" cannot be ignored

Experts said that from the perspective of the laws of economics, the most direct reason for the price increase at a particular time is the change in supply and demand. During the Spring Festival, the needs of the people have experienced a certain degree of blowouts, and there is a reasonable factor in rising consumer prices. Tang Jianwei, senior manager of the Research Department of the Bank of Communications, said that due to various factors such as production cycle, information asymmetry, operating charges, and hot money speculation, during the past decade, the growth rate of consumer prices has shown signs of rising and falling. In reincarnation, during the Spring Festival, which is almost the longest period of price fluctuations in the whole year, it should attract sufficient attention.

The focus of price regulation should still be placed on agricultural products

Affected by seasonal factors, the CPI in January showed a short-term decline year-on-year. Experts reminded that due to the proliferation of global liquidity and the continued rise in the prices of labor and other factors, inflationary pressures cannot be ignored. Of course, we also need to see favorable factors including policies, systems, and confidence. As long as we control it properly, we will be able to maintain the basic stability of the overall price level this year. With the economy picking up, inflation has also entered an upward cycle.

Given that imported inflation and rising costs are difficult to control in the short term, experts believe that the focus of price regulation this year should still be on agricultural products. To innovate ideas for control, the first is to innovate the institutional mechanisms for agricultural production and management. Improve farmers' intensive management and achieve effective integration with the market by increasing the degree of organization. The second is to increase the comparative advantage of agriculture to attract young adults to remain in the countryside. Stabilize the labor force to stabilize the prices of agricultural products.