(Yicai Global) Feb. 13 -- The price of traditional Chinese medicines that had enjoyed a spike in popularity during the latest Covid-19 flare-up in December last year has tumbled, and those herbalists who stocked up during the peak are now suffering losses, Yicai Global learned during a visit to the country’s biggest medicinal herb market.

After China relaxed its pandemic prevention measures in December, there was a huge surge in Covid-19 cases leading to a big jump in demand for Chinese herbs such as forsythia fruit and honeysuckle, which are known for their fever-reducing and detoxifying properties.

The price of forsythia fruit, known as Lian Qiao in Chinese, soared two-and-a-half times to CNY320 (USD47) per kilogram at the end of last year from its usual price of CNY130 per kg, said Li Xian, a merchant who runs a store in the Bozhou herb market in eastern Anhui province. The price has now plunged 23 percent to CNY245 per kg and Li, who stocked up in December when the price was around CNY280 per kg, is now selling at a loss, he said.

The price of honeysuckle, known as Jin Yin Hua in Chinese, is back to CNY180 per kg, 60 percent of December’s peak, another herb seller Yan Jing said. Normally the herb costs around CNY150 per kg. The losses he is now incurring are unbearable.

Herbal pharmacists are cautious about future swings in the price of traditional Chinese medicines used to treat Covid-19. The price of products made from Lian Qiao are still high, Li said. If there is no frost this year, as new products come on the market, there is still room for prices to come down further.

The latest wave of Covid-19, which started in December last year, is now over, said TCM portal Zyctd in a recent report. As a result, the surge in prices of medicines used to treat the novel coronavirus is also now over.

Editor: Kim Taylor