North Korean rice prices appear to be falling this month after climbing past KPW 6,000 a kilogram in late July.
According to Daily NK’s regular survey of North Korean market prices, a kilogram of rice in Pyongyang cost KPW 5,600 as of Sept. 18. This is about 11% less than it cost on July 26, when a kilogram of rice climbed to KPW 6,280.
In fact, the price of rice in Pyongyang has continued to fall since the July 26 survey.
In other regions such as Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province and Hyesan, Yanggang Province as well, rice prices have continued to drop, falling 8 to 12% since late July.
It appears rice prices are falling from July because double-cropped wheat, barley and potatoes have been harvested, and because the authorities provided some North Koreans with unglutinous rice, glutinous rice, wheat flour and other foodstuffs earlier this month to mark the anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Sept. 9.
However, the provisions were primarily aimed at Pyongyang residents and cadres of state agencies. Ordinary people in the provinces received nothing in particular.
According to the source, in some regions such as Yanggang Province, rice of relatively poor quality is currently circulating in markets. Considering the poor state of the musty, moldy rice, it appears some low-quality rice in military storage found its way into markets after it was given to soldiers.
North Korean authorities recently ordered officials dispatched overseas to obtain grains such as unglutinoius rice, corn and soybeans. However, the authorities have yet to provide the imported grains to ordinary people.
According to another source in the country, some military units have gone directly to Nampo, where the imported grain is being stored, to load up on unglutinous rice.
Typically, the General Rear Service Department obtains the food to be distributed to the military en masse, supplying it to units across the country. However, the source told Daily NK that because soldiers have not received regular rations for the last three months, military authorities have simplified procedures to allow each unit to secure food stores on their own.
Meanwhile, the market price of corn in North Korea has fallen less than that of rice, despite the start of the autumn harvest.
A kilogram of corn cost KPW 2,840 in Pyongyang, KPW 2,950 in Sinuiju and KPW 3,200 in Hyesan as of Sept. 18. This is between 5 and 8% less than what it cost in late July’s survey, but compared to the fall in rice prices during the same period, the drop was relatively small.
The relatively small drop in corn prices despite the full-scale start of the corn harvest seems to be because more people are choosing corn — which is cheaper than rice — as their staple due to economic difficulties, and because corn crops are smaller with North Korean authorities encouraging the cultivation of wheat over corn from last year.
However, the fall in corn prices may grow a bit more next month when the corn harvest is complete.
Rodong Sinmun reported on Tuesday that farming communities in South Hwanghae Province, the nation’s breadbasket, were busy harvesting corn, while farming communities in North Pyongan Province, South Hamgyong Province, Kangwon Province and elsewhere were focusing labor and transportation to accelerate the corn harvest.
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