“The garlic season started off with high prices. So far, prices have remained strong. The garlic harvested in June and July has been moved to cold storage facilities. The Chinese Spring Festival is a public holiday usually celebrated in the second week of September. After this festival, the garlic price is likely to come down. By then, most of the garlic will have been placed into cold storage. As a result it can no longer used for processed fresh garlic,” explains David Lee, General Manager at Jining Rich Farmer International Trade.
Ginger
“Compared to garlic’s high market price, Chinese ginger has been performing differently on the international market. The new ginger crop will be harvested in October. Our preliminary market findings have shown that, at the beginning of the coming season, ginger prices could start out higher than last year. Partly because the quality of Weihai ginger is expected to be better and partly because, in other parts of Shandong, there has been less rain, which could reduce total output.”
“We specialise in fresh garlic and ginger exports. Our head office is located in Jining, which is at the heart of Chinese garlic production. We have a history of export experience and a stable client base overseas. Our main export markets are the United States, the Middle East, in particularly Kuwait, and Africa. We also export to Europe, albeit the process is relatively complex.”
Shanxi plant base
“To control product quality and price, we have implemented a new planting strategy. We have a planting base of 35 hectares in Shanxi province. We sent the garlic post-harvest to Jining for processing and packing. This process is reducing our production costs, which helps our customers. China’s planting and processing technologies can be improved, but a major advantage is low labour costs. I am very confident in the future of the market.”
