The price of some anti-epidemic Chinese medicinal materials increased, and some products rose by 263%!

After the comprehensive group of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council issued the "New Ten Rules" to optimize the implementation of the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the situation of epidemic prevention and control in the domestic society has undergone major changes, including Zhejiang, Guangzhou, Henan and other places to predict the peak time of the epidemic, all concentrated in January next year.

In order to cope with the upcoming peak, various localities have begun to expand medical resources, strengthen the supply of key material reserves, and promote vaccination. The reporter of "Daily Economic News" observed that with the rapid rise in demand for some anti-epidemic Chinese medicinal materials and traditional Chinese medicines in a short period of time, the market trend of related varieties has also fluctuated.

On December 12, the Bozhou High-tech Zone Chinese Materia Medica Market Supervision Bureau and Kangmei Huatuo International Chinese Medicine City jointly issued the "High-tech Zone Chinese Materia Medica Market Supervision Bureau on the Price and Competition Order of Epidemic-related Chinese Materia Medica", strengthening the inspection and random inspection of key varieties, strictly and severely investigating and punishing various illegal business behaviors such as price gouging and hoarding in accordance with the law, continuously regulating the price and competition behavior of epidemic-related Chinese medicinal materials, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and market order.

The day after the warning letter was released, Li Ningning, a staff member of Kangmei Chinese Medicine City, told reporters that (the recent price increase of new crown-related varieties) is also due to normal price fluctuations caused by demand exceeding supply, and the management department needs to strengthen guidance and regulation to keep the price increase within a reasonable range. "At present, the overall stock of epidemic-related Chinese medicinal materials in the market is sufficient, and the price is controllable."

The prices of some anti-epidemic Chinese medicinal materials have soared

According to data from Kangmei Traditional Chinese Medicine Network, on December 16, 2022, the total price index of Chinese medicinal materials in China closed at 1773.84 points, up 72.27 points or 4.25% from the same period last week (December 9). There were 30 varieties that rose in price, accounting for 5.8%, an increase of 16 from the previous month; 2 varieties declined, accounting for 0.4%, a decrease of 16 varieties. The 15:1 price-loss ratio was the highest in recent years.

On December 20, Liu Xiaobing, manager of the business information resource business department of Kangmei Chinese Medicine Network, said in an interview with reporters that due to the significant increase in the demand for the epidemic, the market price of anti-epidemic Chinese medicinal materials such as honeysuckle, forsythia, windproof, patchouli, banlan root, reed root, perilla leaf, guanzhong and other antiviral and detoxifying Chinese medicinal materials fluctuated greatly.

As of December 16, the price of perilla leaves was about 55 yuan/kg, an increase of 263.01% over the same period last week; The price of patchouli is 25-26 yuan/kg, and the price of sliced goods is 28-30 yuan/kg, up 92.81% year-on-year; Forsythia is subject to the attention of many merchants, the market continues to rise, the current price of forsythia raw drying goods in the Bozhou market is about 260 yuan / kg, the asking price of boiled goods is 270-280 yuan / kg, and the price of non-fruit stem selection is about 300 yuan / kg.

When talking about the supply and demand relationship of anti-epidemic Chinese medicinal materials, Liu said: "With the large increase in short-term demand, varieties such as honeysuckle, forsythia, patchouli, perilla leaf and other varieties, due to new production and new goods next year, there may be a continuous shortage of supply in the short term, and prices will remain at high levels." Varieties such as banlan root, windbreak, and skullcap are now in new production, and the subsequent supply will increase. In addition, Liu also judged that with the gradual improvement of the epidemic, the raw materials of traditional Chinese medicine are expected to stabilize after February and March 2023.
Obviously, the price trend of different varieties of Chinese medicinal materials should be distinguished in relation to the changes in their supply and demand relationships. Taking Forsythia as an example, according to the Chinese Materia Medica, its market has been in a state of reduced production in recent years, and the annual source output is insufficient demand, and it needs to be replenished from the old inventory, (the source output in 2020 is 5500 tons, and the source output in 2021 is 4500 tons) so that the source of goods is effectively digested, and as of 2022, before the new production, the multi-merchant reflects that the inventory is almost in the weakest state ever, almost zero. A merchant in Xixia County, Henan Province said that with the purchase of pharmaceutical companies and merchants, the price of forsythia moves very fast, which can be described as "one price per meeting", and the psychology of selling in the place of origin is very strong, and the market situation is full of variables.

The same varieties with obvious recent price increases, the follow-up market of Banlangen may deduce a completely different trend. According to the data, Banlangen gong clears heat and detoxification, cools blood and throat, and is used for acute tonsillitis and acute laryngitis caused by heat-toxic upper respiratory tract infection, and is a traditional cold relief herb for the people. Due to the strong adaptability of the production area, short growth cycle and fast effect, Banlan root can be planted in many places in the country, and the production capacity can easily exceed the dosage.

Mr. Lu, a dealer in Bozhou, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that although Banlangen has increased prices significantly in the short term due to rising demand, he believes that the overall supply is still in a state of oversupply, and the future market is expected to stabilize.

The market supervision department has intervened to investigate and deal with it

As the world's largest professional market, distribution center and price formation center of Chinese medicinal materials, the price stability of key epidemic-related Chinese medicinal materials in the Bozhou Chinese medicinal materials market is of great significance to stabilizing the supply and price of the national Chinese medicinal materials market.

In view of the large fluctuation of the price of some medicinal herbs. On December 12, the Bozhou High-tech Zone Chinese Materia Medica Market Supervision Bureau and Kangmei Huatuo International Chinese Medicine City jointly issued the "High-tech Zone Chinese Materia Medica Market Supervision Bureau on the Price and Competition Order of Epidemic-related Chinese Materia Medica", strengthening the inspection and random inspection of key varieties, strictly and severely investigating and punishing various illegal business behaviors such as price gouging and hoarding in accordance with the law, continuously regulating the price and competition behavior of epidemic-related Chinese medicinal materials, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and market order.

Liu Xiaobing told reporters that after the intervention of the Market Supervision Bureau, the price stability of epidemic-related Chinese medicinal materials has been effective, but due to too large demand and relatively insufficient market supply, there are still some fluctuations in market prices.

In fact, the behavior of "hoarding" around some medicinal varieties has not started recently. On October 25 this year, Jia Haibin, founder of the big data platform of Tiandi Yuntu Chinese medicine industry, said in an interview with reporters that artificial speculation is also an important factor that leads to the rise in prices of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and capital hot money and floating capital have poured into the field of agricultural and sideline products, especially some rigid Chinese medicinal material varieties, under capital speculation, the price is easy to skyrocket.

"(The behavior of using variety price increase information to hoard goods) is also an objective phenomenon, flies do not bite seamless eggs, if these varieties of Chinese medicinal materials themselves do not have obvious contradictions between supply and demand, the supply chain is not fragile, and the people who stock up and speculate have no opportunity to intervene. Therefore, it is important to establish a sound price monitoring mechanism and product traceability system to achieve closed-loop circulation in the industry, so as to prevent the influx of capital from these stockpiles. Jia Haibin said.

Ms. Liu is a distributor from Bozhou, which mainly deals in wind protection. In the past week, customers have come to her to buy windbreak, and the price of wild hailar has risen from about 290-300 yuan / kg to 320 yuan / kg in a short period of time. Ms. Liu told reporters that after the intervention of the Market Supervision Bureau, the windproof price was generally still within a reasonable range.

Reporters| Xu Libo, Editors| Chen Junjie, Lu Xiangyong, Du Bo

Proofreader| Sun Zhicheng