SHANGHAI will reduce the supply of car plates to 9,000 and lower a price ceiling designed to curb soaring plate prices to 79,900 yuan (US$13,098) at this month's auction, authorities said yesterday.

The cut marked a reverse from last month when the quota was raised to 11,000 from 9,000 in response to rising demand in conjunction with the Shanghai auto show and the May Day holiday travel period.

The city government will trim the number of car plates by 2,000 at the auction set for May 25.

Meanwhile, the government will cut the price ceiling to 79,900 yuan from 83,600 yuan in April and bids exceeding the price would be rejected by the online auction system in the first round of bidding.

The upper price limit this month is the weighted average price of the average successful bids in the four months from December 2012 to March 2013. The price ceiling for June will be the weighted average price of the average successful bids in the five months from November 2012 to March 2013, according to the authorities.

Based on the evaluation of the results from the April trial, the city government will continue to implement price ceiling before a new auction scheme is launched in the second half of the year, authorities said.

Car plate prices in Shanghai fell for the first time in 10 months to 84,100 yuan in April after the city government set a price ceiling for the first time at last month's auction.