The price of a single head of napa cabbage exceeded 7,000 won... In a month, due to extreme heat and heavy rain, it increased by 1.5 times.

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yoon-gu = With the succession of heatwaves and heavy rains, the price of cabbage has surged sharply, with the average retail price per head exceeding 7,000 won.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation on the 19th, the average retail price of cabbage products the previous day was 7,620 won, a 9.3% increase from last year.

This is 11% higher than the average year.

The price of cabbage was 6,871 won as of the 13th, but it jumped to 7,230 won on the 14th, entering the 7,000 won range, and rose further the next day.

The increase compared to last month is 52%, with a surge of nearly 2,500 won per head in a month.

Usually, cabbage prices are higher in August than in July, but the rise this year is much larger than in previous years.

The rise in cabbage prices is attributed to the impact of abnormal weather.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "Since last month until early this month, repeated heatwaves and heavy rains have caused the quality of cabbage to be quite poor."

A representative from a large supermarket also explained, "Due to the abnormal weather, many high-quality cabbages were not produced."

Although the recent retail prices are rising, the wholesale prices, which are 2-3 weeks ahead, have turned to a downward trend.

The wholesale price of cabbage products was 4,393 won as of the 14th, 23.6% cheaper than last year and 5.7% cheaper than the average year.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained that the reason for the drop in wholesale prices is that the temperature in Gangwon Province's highland cabbage production areas has dropped since mid-month, resulting in higher shipments than last year, and the government is also releasing stockpiles.

They added, "Retail prices tend to follow wholesale prices with a 2-3 week lag," and expressed hope that retail prices will stabilize if favorable weather conditions continue.

Earlier, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung said at a press conference on the 7th, "Regarding the supply and demand instability of agricultural products due to heavy rains and heatwaves, cabbage can be managed through storage quantities, so it may be more expensive than usual, but it can be overcome safely."

In addition to cabbage, radishes are 18% cheaper than last year at 2,588 won each, and cabbages are 3.3% more expensive at 4,526 won each.

Tomatoes are 11.1% higher than last year at 5,571 won per kg.

Watermelons, which once exceeded 30,000 won, are now approaching the end of the season.