North Korean market prices are soaring again, with both grain prices and foreign exchange rates hitting record highs and driving continued volatility.
According to Daily NK’s regular survey of North Korean market prices, a kilogram of rice was trading for 9,600 North Korean won at a Pyongyang marketplace on May 25. The price was 6.7% higher than two weeks before (9,000 won on May 10), setting a new record for the North Korean capital.
Rice prices increased by similar amounts elsewhere. At a market in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, a kilogram of rice traded for 9,800 won on May 25, up 6.5% from two weeks earlier (9,200 won).
This marks the first time since Daily NK began tracking market grain prices in 2009 that rice has sold for 9,800 won.
Rice prices at North Korean marketplaces had reached the mid-9,000 won range in late April before falling back toward 9,000 won on May 10. But just two weeks later, they are approaching 10,000 won.
Corn prices surge even higher
Corn prices have risen even more sharply than rice. A kilogram of corn sold for 4,000 won ($0.16) at a Pyongyang marketplace on May 25 — 11.1% higher than the May 10 price.
Hyesan saw the steepest corn price increase. Corn sold for 4,200 won per kilogram at a marketplace in the city on May 25, up 13.5% from the previous survey.
Two factors appear to be driving the sharp increase in North Korean grain prices. Markets are seeing little imported grain, and grain supplies are being disrupted by the mobilization of North Korean citizens to help plant rice.
The mobilization of much of the population for farm work is hampering trucking operations. Since anyone caught driving during daytime hours gets assigned to a work crew on a local farm, trucks reportedly haven’t been running until after 4 p.m. since rice transplanting began in early May.
Exchange rates hit new records
Foreign currency exchange rates have also been setting new records. As of May 25, the won-to-dollar exchange rate in Pyongyang was 24,700 won, 23.5% higher than in the previous survey. The won-to-dollar rate was also up more than 20% in Sinuiju and Hyesan, both cities on the Chinese border.
The won-to-dollar rate had retreated from an all-time high of 22,200 won at the beginning of this year and seemed to stabilize just above 20,000 won. But now the rate has crossed the 24,000 won threshold.
The won-to-yuan exchange rate has also risen sharply, though not as much as the dollar rate. The won-to-yuan rate on May 25 was 3,600 won in Sinuiju and 3,560 won in Hyesan, increases of 19.6% and 14.8% respectively from May 10.
The rising exchange rates at North Korean marketplaces appear to be driving up prices of imported goods. This has been particularly noticeable for fuel, an imported commodity that’s essential during the busy farming season.
The average gasoline price at marketplaces in Pyongyang, Sinuiju and Hyesan on May 25 was 23,160 won per kilogram, up 9.4% from two weeks earlier. More significantly, the average price of diesel, which powers farm equipment, jumped 16.1% from two weeks prior to 21,630 won per kilogram.
Unless fuel supplies increase through more imports, fuel prices will likely continue rising through early June, when the busy farming season ends.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
