Staple foods abundant with prices stable

Stocks of staple food and oil in the city are at record levels as demand drops, the government said on Tuesday.

Sales since Chinese New Year were down 30 percent from the same period last year, said Yin Ou, director of the staple food and goods storage bureau.

This was largely due to the extended holiday, the delay in people returning to Shanghai due to the epidemic and a huge fall in demand from the catering industry, Yin said.

The staple food and oil in storage can supply the entire city for six and three months respectively, he said.

Meanwhile, the price of major rice, flour and oil products had remained stable.

The price of rice and flour in the February 17 to 23 period slightly dropped from the previous week, while the price of oil rose a little, Yin said.

So far, 16 of the 17 staple food and oil processing companies had started production after the holiday.

They face labor shortages, lack of packaging materials and disrupted transport, but Yin said the bureau is helping address the problems.