Moutai auction disappointing

Guiyang (CNS) -- China's largest annual Moutai and fine liquor auction closed on Sunday with the famous brand having a far less satisfactory showing than last year.

Eighty-one sets of bidding items fetched altogether 1.96 million yuan (US$ 310,791). Though the number of bids reset the record for the auction, total and single turnovers were both much lower than in previous years.

An earthenware bottle of Five Star Moutai that at one time fetched 1.456 million yuan (US$ 230,872) was sold for its starting price of 150,000 yuan. A Moutai 1958 started from a low of 300,000 yuan (US$ 47,570) but no bidders came forward.

Moutai products supplied to state banquets and unavailable to retail outlets are not commonly circulated and therefore popular due to their rarity, but only half of these products were sold on Sunday, and all at relatively low prices.

The huge gap between this year's take and those of previous years must be attributed to market misjudgment of the stock and value of Moutai produced during the 1950s. Reserves of Moutai products from that era are more abundant than estimated, which inevitably leads to a value readjustment, a bidder surnamed Li informed CNS.

Other fine liquor products made in the 1980s were introduced to the auction for the first time. Whether the novel brands have the potential to appreciate still needs time to observe, one bidder commented.