China's major liquor producers have started raising prices to
cash in on demand during the upcoming Spring Festival
celebrations.
Kweichow Moutai, a famous spirit company in China's southwestern
Guizhou Province, announced recently that it would increase the
producer prices of its various spirits by 20 percent on
average.
The company said the price increase was a natural response to
the rising market demand.
Liquor is considered a must-have for Chinese families gathering
for the coming Spring Festival, which this year is on February 7,
the country's traditional Lunar New Year, which usually drives up
the prices.
The current producer price of a bottle of 53-degree Moutai was
388 yuan (53 U.S. dollars), and its sales price had already surged
before the company's announcement, according to a recent report by
the Beijing Morning Post.
The sales price of 53-degree Moutai had increased from 688 yuan
(94 U.S. dollars) to 728 yuan (100 U.S. dollars) a bottle at one of
the company's chain stores in Beijing's Xizhimen area, the report
said.
Rising grain costs have also impelled the liquor producers to
increase prices, analysts said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2008)
