The upcoming Qing Ming festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is putting upward pressure on seafood prices in China’s main wholesale markets, with demand for mantis shrimp climbing up sharply on tighter supply, and prices averaging CNY 120 (USD 17.43, EUR 16.09) per kilogram at the bellwether Weihai port wholesale market in Shandong Province, on China's east coast.
Increasingly scarce local supply is a factor behind stronger prices, according to merchants at the market, who don’t expect any slackening off in prices until after the festival, which falls on 4 April, 2017.
However, while the outlook is good for shrimp suppliers, prices for abalone have slipped as southern Chinese supply starts to come on-stream. Larger abalone, five or six head, were fetching an average CNY 160 to 180 (USD 23 to 26, EUR 21 to 24) per kilogram while prices for the smaller abalone, which include 13 pieces per kilogram, were worth CNY 86 to 90 (USD 12 to 13, EUR 11 to 12).
