"The crazy rise in the price of atractylodes is more outrageous than gold" has become a hot topic on Weibo, attracting widespread attention from netizens. In the past two years, there has been a phenomenon of soaring prices of Chinese herbal medicines in the Chinese herbal medicine market, especially since this year, the prices of individual Chinese herbal medicines have even skyrocketed nearly ten times.
In this regard, the reporter visited two Chinese herbal medicine wholesale markets in Shanghai and found that the hot topic on the Internet was indeed the case offline, and the owners of Chinese herbal medicine shops were worried and did not have a positive attitude towards the soaring prices of Chinese herbal medicines. On the other hand, niche herbs such as "cat's claw" have risen too sharply, and the department boss said that he is no longer in stock.
The price of some Chinese herbal medicines has risen sharply, and the owner of the Chinese herbal medicine store first informed the "price increase"
The reporter first came to the Fuyuan commercial building near the Chenghuang Temple in Huangpu District, Shanghai, where more than 200 Chinese herbal medicine dealers and shops gathered on the second floor. In a corner on the second floor of the Fuyuan Commercial Building, the reporter found a store with transparent packaging of Chinese herbal medicines, and there were many Chinese herbal medicines piled up on the ground outside the store. When the reporter asked if there was any "Atractylodes", the shopkeeper directly told the reporter that "the price of Atractylodes has increased by 100 yuan now."
According to the store, the price of Chinese herbal medicines has generally continued to rise recently, especially in the common medicinal materials such as atractylodes and white peony. The price of atractylodes was still 30 yuan/kg in April 2023, but now it has climbed to about 200 yuan/kg, and the price of white peony has risen from 60 yuan/kg earlier to 130 yuan/kg, a significant increase. The merchant revealed that the more niche Chinese herb cat's claw grass was only sold for 60 yuan/kg in 2021 and 2022, and it rose to 80 yuan/kg in 2023, and the price has soared since the beginning of 2024, and now the market price has risen to 800 yuan/kg, an increase of nearly ten times.
Subsequently, the reporter came to the Triumphal Arch Building located in Tianmu Middle Road, Jing'an District.
The owner of a health care herb shop on the second floor said that compared with common Chinese medicinal materials such as atractylodes and white peony, cat's claw, which has risen too fast this year, has stopped being restocked, and there is no longer stock in the warehouse. "We are now here for 300 yuan/kg for atractylodes and 200 yuan/kg for white peony. ”
In a nationally renowned Chinese herbal medicine store on the second floor of the building, the clerk told reporters that cat's claw grass was also absent. "At the current market price, Atractylodes macrocephalus (per kilogram) is a little more than 200 yuan, about 220, and white peony (per kilogram) is a little more than 100 yuan. ”
A customer who was selecting medicinal materials sighed: "The prices of these Chinese medicinal materials have risen too much, and they are generally rising. Many stores are reluctant to buy because the price is too high to accept. ”
Customers switch to online shopping, and it is difficult for old Chinese medicine practitioners to prescribe medicines
There are also customers who turn their heads to buy medicines online.
"Physical pharmacies are rising sharply now, but a search on the Internet shows that some atractylodes directly from the origin can still find relatively cheap prices, I don't know if there is more inventory or what. However, the price of the goods in the online store is very different, and it is difficult to distinguish the quality, so I have to buy some myself first and try it back. A buyer who patronized Pinduoduo said.
Atractylodes macrocephalus is a common bulk of Chinese herbal medicines, which was first recorded in the "Shennong Materia Medica", also known as Yushu, Zhejiang, and tablets, which has a number of medicinal functions such as tonifying the spleen and stomach, drying dampness and improving water, stopping sweat and stabilizing the fetus, etc., which can be called the classic "basic model" in Chinese herbal medicines, and the dosage is very large. The reporter saw on the e-commerce platform that the prices of atractylodes in different stores vary greatly, some prices are still very cheap, as if they are not affected by the price rise, some are the same or slightly cheaper than physical stores, and the prices of brand Chinese medicine stores are even more "spicy......
On the Internet, a certified old Chinese medicine doctor also talked about his opinion. He said that cat's claw is a "niche variety" in traditional Chinese medicine, and the impact of price increases is not too great, while atractylodes is the basic model of traditional Chinese medicine, which is needed to replenish qi and strengthen the spleen, dispel dampness, and strengthen the foundation. Now, the price of Atractylodes atractylodes has skyrocketed, making him hesitate to prescribe Chinese medicine prescriptions with Atractylodes, first inform patients of the recent price increase of Chinese herbal medicines, and confirm that the other party can accept or purchase other channels before prescribing.
The soaring prices of Chinese herbal medicines are due to both natural factors and man-made "hoarding" factors
Why is the price of atractylodes, a common medicinal material, soaring?
According to a shopkeeper in the Arc de Triomphe Building, which is directly facing the front line of Chinese herbal medicine sales, in recent years, more and more patients have chosen to take Chinese medicine for treatment and conditioning when they have a cold, which has led to a large demand for related Chinese herbal medicines.
The rest is the human factor. Some shopkeepers mentioned that the current round of rising prices of Chinese herbal medicines is due to the fact that there are many artificial factors of "hoarding".
A Chinese herbal medicine merchant on the second floor of the Fuyuan Commercial Building believes that there is a phenomenon of people hoarding goods and raising prices. He explained: "You see our hometown - Bozhou, Anhui Province, now there are so many cold storage, how can there be so many cold storage, now all are cold storage, are all inventory, storage but not sale, all hoarding, the market price is naturally high." ”
It is understood that Bozhou, Anhui Province is one of the four major pharmaceutical capitals in the mainland, the world's largest distribution center and price formation center of Chinese herbal medicines, and also the main production area of Chinese herbal medicines such as Atractylodes macrocephalus and Paeonia alba. The store also pointed out: "Some large households don't care about recovering their costs for a while, and the price of medicinal materials will not be shipped if the price of medicinal materials does not increase to double." Isn't that disrupting the market?"
It is worth mentioning that in July last year, in response to the rise in the price of Chinese herbal medicines at that time, the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued a special proposal, proposing: "The abnormal rise in the price of medicinal materials for a long time in this round is bound to have an adverse impact on the healthy and stable development of the Chinese medicine industry...... Resolutely oppose and never participate in any form of improper or even illegal acts that disrupt the order of the medicinal materials market, such as raising and manipulating the price of medicinal materials, speculation and speculation. ”
According to the "Price Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China" and other relevant laws and regulations, no unit or individual may use a dominant market position, information asymmetry and other means to carry out price monopoly, price gouging, hoarding and other behaviors. If traders continue to hoard and speculate on Chinese herbal medicines, they may face legal risks and corresponding penalties.