Plate prices reach high

Shanghai's car plate prices hit a 30-month high yesterday despite there being less bidders.

Dealers said the price has been rising for six consecutive months and prompted buyers to offer higher bids.

The lowest price for a plate at this month's auction was 48,500 yuan (US$7,461), up 1,100 yuan from a month earlier, according to the organizer Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co. The price was the highest since January 2008 when a new auction system was launched.

The average price also gained 1,155 yuan to 48,855 yuan for June.

The local government offered 9,000 car plates this month, the same amount for May. But the quota has been increased from February's 7,500 and 8,000 for April after the average price surged 26 percent this year.

For June, the number of bidders was 22,474, lower than the 25,708 last month.

"Auto buyers are concerned the price will go further up," said a dealer surnamed Qian. "Many of them told us the price is too high to afford and they are now waiting for government measures to prevent it from soaring too rapidly."

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