Featured News

"With rice prices skyrocketing when nobody can make money in the markets, many people complain they can't put food on the table," a source told Daily NK

North Korean rice prices, which broke through 10,000 won per kilogram for the first time in early June, are holding steady at around 12,000 won. However, corn prices have dropped slightly as other grains start appearing in markets.

According to Daily NK’s regular survey of North Korean market prices, rice cost 12,000 won per kilogram in a Pyongyang market on June 22—the same price as two weeks earlier on June 7.

Rice stable, corn falls

Rice prices stayed fairly stable in other regions too. In a Hyesan market in Ryanggang province, rice cost 12,200 won per kilogram on June 22, just 200 won less than on June 7.

Corn prices, however, fell. In Pyongyang and Hyesan, corn cost 4,000 won and 4,100 won per kilogram respectively on June 22—drops of 11.1% and 12.8% from June 7.

The biggest corn price drop was in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, where it cost 3,800 won per kilogram, a 17.4% decrease from two weeks earlier.

Corn prices have fallen noticeably because demand for corn—used as a rice substitute—has dropped slightly with potato and barley harvests beginning.

Cho Chung-hee, director of Good Farmers’ research institute and a North Korea agriculture expert, told Daily NK that corn prices “seem to have dropped a bit as potatoes and wheat start appearing” and that wheat “appears to be reaching markets faster after harvest because grain dryers were distributed this year.”

In previous years, prices for alternative crops typically fell in mid-July because it took time for potatoes and wheat to reach markets even after June harvests. This year, prices dropped earlier.

“Our internal survey found that wheat and barley farming was poor this year,” Cho said. “Good areas harvested about 2.5 tons per 10,000 square meters, while bad areas got about 1.7 tons. At that rate, the total harvest will fall well short of previous years.”

Source : dailynk