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Cross-country drive on 2 gallons of gas
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Danish Christmas tree buyers this year are paying for a soft tree market several years ago, when fewer trees were planted.
Earlier this decade the country's Christmas tree growers cut back the number of saplings they planted annually from 25 million to 10 million to counter lower prices, the Copenhagen Post reported.
Now the first of the smaller crops are mature enough to sell. Demand is high -- and prices are as well.
Denmark is Europe's largest exporter of Christmas trees. Kaj Ostergaard, the Danish Christmas Tree Growers' Association president, said the country exports 85 percent of its crop. While export prices are as much as 20 percent higher, Ostergaard said local purchasing power plays the biggest role in figuring a tree's cost.
"You can get a glorious tree for (about $13) in rural western Jutland, but the same tree would set you back (about $97) in Copenhagen's affluent suburbs," he said.
Ostergaard said he believes enough trees would be available. But, just to be on the safe side, growers were planting about 15 million saplings annually to prevent future shortages, he said.
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