Prices of satsumas are low right now under the epidemic.

Since the new coronavirus outbreak, various local governments have instituted measures as the epidemic spreads across the country. Control measures such as closed cities, closed villages and closed roads have appeared in fruit-producing areas across the country. Transportation, logistics and people are severely restricted. As a result of mobility constraints, the conflict between the supply side and the demand side of the fruit is very obvious. Currently, the supply of the better fruit varieties (satsumas) is under pressure from both the high cost of end-of-pipe purchasing expenditures and the lack of purchasing demand on the production side. In recent years, due to the low yields of sugarcane cultivation in the south, much land has been replanted with sugar oranges, coupled with high expectations of profitability in sugar orange cultivation, production of sugar oranges continues to grow rapidly, and other sugar orange production in Sichuan, Hunan, Anhui and other regions are also increasing.

In recent years, China's citrus production has increased year by year. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's total citrus output reached 41.38 million tons in 2018, and the overall growth rate over the past five years has been maintained at 5-8 percent. In 2019, with the emergence of new varieties of sugar oranges and mandarins in the southern region in recent years, they have entered a period of high production in the past two years. Citrus production is expected to reach about 45 million tons, about the same as China's apple production. The rapid expansion of the area planted with sugar oranges has gradually led to an oversupply in the sugar orange industry. In 2015 and 2016, the purchase price of satsuma oranges was as high as RMB 10 per pound, and since 2017, the roller coaster style price has gradually declined. In 2018, the price fell below $1/catty. The initial price of 5 yuan/catty quickly went to 1.5 yuan/catty before the Spring Festival. Under the influence of the epidemic, the current purchase price of sasanqua fell to 0.5-1.0 yuan/catty.

Sand sugar orangeis a variety listed before and after the Spring Festival, the Spring Festival is an important period of consumption. Usually, the consumption of shatsugatsu around the Spring Festival ten days accounts for about 40% of the total consumption. This year's Chinese New Year is half a month earlier than previous years, which reduces the prime time for selling satsumas. According to reported information, more than half of the satsumas in certain production areas had been sold by New Year's Eve, but certain production areas still had more sources of supply. Among them, the overall shipment in Guilin production area is only about 20 percent. Overall, less than 50 percent of the satsumas have been sold in satsumas producing areas, and the remaining supply is still ample, with more pressure on sales later in the year.