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A man dressed as Saint Nicholas stands beside an illuminated Christmas tree in the city center of Hamburg December 6, 2008
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A shortage of Christmas trees in Denmark, Europe's largest exporter, is driving up prices in a trend likely to last until 2012, producers said on Monday.
"Our producers got between 10 and 20 percent more for Nordmann trees this year," said Kaj Ostergaard, the head of the Danish Christmas Tree Growers Association.
The Nordmann, one of the most popular species because of the long life of its silvery needles, is selling in Copenhagen this year for 300 Danish crowns ($56) for a two-meter (six-foot six inches) specimen, 20 percent more than last year.
Denmark produced about 10 million Christmas trees this year, about 8.5 million of them earmarked for export. About half go to Germany, with Britain and France the next biggest buyers.
"The total production of Nordmann firs in Europe is about 30 million trees per year while the demand is 33 million to 35 million," Ostergaard said. "According to my calculations, demand will increase and supply will decrease until 2012."
The seeds of the shortage were sown between 1998 and 2004, when tree prices collapsed because of oversupply and some Danish growers switched to other crops.
Producers are now planting more trees, but a Nordmann needs 10 years to grow, so prices are likely to keep rising for the next three or four years before leveling out.
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(Agencies)
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圣誕樹(shù)生產(chǎn)商聯(lián)盟于本周一稱，由于歐洲最大的圣誕樹(shù)出口國(guó)丹麥目前出現(xiàn)貨源短缺，所以拉動(dòng)了圣誕樹(shù)價(jià)格的上漲，這一走勢(shì)可能將持續(xù)至2012年。
丹麥?zhǔn)フQ樹(shù)種植協(xié)會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)人Kaj Ostergaard說(shuō)：“今年高加索冷杉的價(jià)格上漲了10%至20%。”
高加索冷杉以其生命力十分旺盛的銀針葉而著稱，是最受歡迎的圣誕樹(shù)品種之一。今年高加索冷杉在哥本哈根的售價(jià)為每?jī)擅祝?英尺6英寸）300丹麥克朗（56美元），比去年上漲了20%。
今年丹麥共生產(chǎn)了約1000萬(wàn)棵圣誕樹(shù)，其中850萬(wàn)棵用于出口，其中約一半出口至德國(guó)，其次是英國(guó)和法國(guó)。
Ostergaard說(shuō)：“全歐洲每年高加索冷杉的總產(chǎn)量約為3000萬(wàn)棵，而需求則在3300萬(wàn)至3500萬(wàn)棵之間。按照我的估算，這種供不應(yīng)求的局面將持續(xù)至2012年。”
丹麥?zhǔn)フQ樹(shù)供應(yīng)不足的問(wèn)題起源于1998年至2004年那段時(shí)期，當(dāng)時(shí)由于圣誕樹(shù)供給過(guò)剩造成樹(shù)價(jià)狂跌，因此一些樹(shù)農(nóng)轉(zhuǎn)種其它作物。
如今，樹(shù)農(nóng)們又開(kāi)始重操舊業(yè)，但一棵高加索冷杉成才需要10年，所以在有新的供給補(bǔ)充之前，圣誕樹(shù)的價(jià)格將持續(xù)上漲三四年。
（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
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