Chinese Yuan continues to advance -higher prices to come

Herb prices will continue to increase as China's yuan advanced to 6.5883 per US dollar. Ten years ago the price was about 8.2 to the US dollar which made products much less expensive - almost half of what the cost is now.

China's Herbal Medicine Plagued by Inflation

China's Herbal Medicine Plagued by Inflation
By Michael Bristow BBC News, Anguo, Northern China

At the Central Trade Hall in the city of Anguo there are hundreds of stalls selling unusual products - tree bark, wild flowers and roots.

Many of them have unusual names, such as Baikal Skullcap and Pagoda Tree.

These products are all used in traditional Chinese medicine and are on sale at the country's largest market for medicinal herbs.

It is an ancient industry that is currently grappling with an age-old problem: inflation.

Medicinal herbs have on average nearly doubled in price over the last year. Some particular ingredients have gone up even more.

Herb Prices Soar

SINGAPORE, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The prices of most herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) rose by 30 percent this year in Singapore.

Local herbs wholesalers contribute the price increase to the stronger Chinese currency and herbus supply shortages, local English daily the Straits Times reported on Tuesday.

The supply shortages are the result of major natural disasters which wiped out swathes of herbal plantations in China.

The prices of over 25 percent of herbal medicines have more than doubled in the second half of the year. For instance, the honeysuckle flower, or jinyinhua, which is used to relieve colds, costs as much as five times more than it did last year.....

For more info see: Traditional Chinese medicine herbs prices surge in Singapore

Prices of Chinese Herbs will continue to rise

... Chinese consumers have recently been forced to wrestle with market distortions that have triggered huge advances in commodities such as ginger, garlic and medicinal herbs. ...

To read the full article see: Chinese Jittery over red-hot prices