June 15 2007, 08:35

World prices for champignon and oyster mushroom may significantly increase in 2007

The growing expenses for labor and energy lead to the growth of mushroom production cost in the EU countries, China, USA and Canada. This fact is not compensated by a rapid intensification of the production process and the yield growth. The international experts -mushroom growers told about this global trend during the second international conference Mushroom Industry 2007. The conference was finished yesterday in the National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine".

Mushroom production in most countries - the leading producers of champignon and oyster mushroom has been stabilized and has not been growing anymore as a consequence of the mentioned trends. To the experts' opinion, this situation should result in the considerable growth of the global prices for mushrooms as soon as in the second half of 2007. A sufficient number of small and ineffective producers will leave this business by that time, so that a temporary deficit for mushroom will be created on market. The experts say, even China suffers from the deficit of cheap labor for mushroom harvesting; as a result, the export supplies of champignon and oyster mushroom from China have not been increasing, and the prices have been tending to grow for several years already.