A photo of Dongguan Salt Distribution Center taken on Thursday. Dongguan municipal government on Thursday said that Dongguan has ample stocks for three months' consumption.
Dongguan municipal government on Thursday tried to halt the public's panic buying of salt promoted by radiation fears over Japan's nuclear power plants explosions, saying that Dongguan has ample stocks for three months' consumption.
Since Wednesday, worried shoppers had emptied supermarket shelves in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Hubei provinces as well as the municipalities of Beijing and Chongqing, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency today.
The panic was caused by rumors that iodized salt could help ward off radiation poisoning, and that radiation has leaked into the sea from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, so salt taken from the sea - not the primary source of salt in China - would be contaminated.
Such panic buying of salts began on Wednesday afternoon in Dongguan. As of Thursday, the rushing customers have emptied supermarket shelves for salts in the city, pushing the price to almost 20 yuan a kilo, ten times more than usual.
Mr. Ou Bogen, the vice director of Dongguan government's salt department, on Thursday tried to ease the public's panic, saying that Dongguan has salt stocks of 10,581 tons at the moment, which will be enough for three months' consumption in the city.
Mr. Ou also said that 90% of Dongguan salt supply is from rock salt, which is mined in provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi and Hubei. "So the salt sold in Dongguan will be very safe," he said.
To ease the salt shortage, Dongguan municipal government has released a series of measures to guarantee the flow of distribution and to tackle salt speculations.
Mr. Deng Hao, the director of Dongguan Price Bureau said on Thursday that the salt is a national pricing of goods, priced at 1.3 yuan per 500 grams, and any sales of salt above the price will be fined 500 thousand yuan to 5 million yuan.
Meanwhile the salt distribution center in Dongguan has speeded up the transportation to markets to ensure the salt supply.
(By Morvin Chow)
