Shortage of Cheonil Salt Amid Fukushima Contaminated Water Concerns
Half of Items Sold Out in Suhyup Shopping Weekly Best
Shipping Delays Due to Surge in Orders
Coarse Salt Price Up 60.8% Compared to Average Year
As Japan recently announced plans to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, concerns have risen, leading to an increase in people buying salt in advance, causing product shortages and price hikes. Amid ongoing worries about 'sugarflation' (sugar + inflation) due to rising sugar prices, there are now forecasts that the increase in salt prices could trigger 'saltflation' (salt + inflation) as well.
On the morning of the 14th, the salt shelf at a large supermarket in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon was empty. [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to the Suhyup Shopping operated by the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives on the 16th, six sun-dried salt products appeared in the weekly best items, half of which?three products?are already sold out. The remaining three are experiencing delivery delays due to high order volumes. On the previous afternoon, the top three popular search terms on Suhyup Shopping were all related to salt: 'salt,' 'sun-dried salt,' and 'sun-dried salt 20㎏.'
Jeonnam Sinan-gun’s sun-dried salt, which accounts for about 80% of the national production with an annual output of approximately 230,000 tons, distributes about 35% of its total volume through local agricultural cooperatives. Currently, inventory of 2021 and 2022 sun-dried salt, from which bittern has been removed, is experiencing delivery delays due to surging orders and logistics issues. Moreover, in the Sinan area, sun-dried salt is produced annually from April to October, but this year, production decreased somewhat due to frequent rainfall in April and May.
On the afternoon of the 13th, a notice informing the salt is out of stock was posted at Hanaro Mart Yangjae Branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
With increased demand for salt and decreased production of sun-dried salt this year, salt prices are showing strength. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the retail price of coarse salt was 12,649 KRW for 5 kg as of the 14th, which is 13.0% higher than 11,189 KRW a year ago and 60.8% higher compared to the average price of 7,864 KRW. The average price is calculated as the three-year average excluding the highest and lowest prices from 2018 to 2022.
The government explained that although purchases of sun-dried salt have increased, there are no unusual movements at the industry level except for individuals. At a briefing held yesterday at the Seoul Government Complex annex, Vice Minister Song Sang-geun of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated, "After multiple on-site inspections, there are no signs of hoarding of sun-dried salt at the processing and distribution industry level." He added, "The proportion of individual direct transactions is about 7 to 8% of total transactions," and "We judge that the increase in individual direct transactions is not significant enough to affect the overall supply and demand or the prices at production sites."
Meanwhile, according to the price comparison service Danawa, salt transaction amounts sold online from the 7th to the 13th of this month increased by 817% compared to the previous week, and the average transaction price of 20 kg sun-dried salt rose 83% to 57,840 KRW from the previous month’s average of 31,540 KRW.
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