“The ginger harvest started in October in Shandong province and will continue until November. Compared to last year, production is expected to come down by 10% to 15%. This is due to a number of things, prices have witnesses a sharp increase in September, some have gone up by almost 100%,” comments Jason of Tailai Foods.
“A blossoming market and high profits in 2013 led to large-scale expansion of ginger production in the following years. This has caused the market to come down in 2014 and 2015. Expectations for 2016 are meagre. In order to reduce overall production costs, growers have tried to reduce management costs, use of fertilisers and irrigation. As a result a lower overall production output can be expected.”
Prices expected to peak
“Currently, the remaining ginger stock on the market is small. The new ginger will only be available from December onwards. In addition, growers and packing houses are now focussing on harvesting and processing the new ginger crop, which is decreasing their capacity to take on orders. Ginger consumption in the US and Europe usually rises in Autumn and continues to rise throughout Winter. Finally, from August up to now, factories purchasing ginger for sushi and other end products, have started to place large orders. Taking these factors into account, it is difficult to predict what the price will do in the following weeks. Recently, however, prices have risen to new heights and nearly doubled.”
Expanding exports
Anqiu Tailai Foods is located in the city of Anqiu in Shandong province. This is China’s largest producing region. The company’s cultivation base covers over 70 hectares, reaching an annual production output of 5,000 tons. Most of the crop is exported through the port of Qingdao and shipped to the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, the US, South Korea and a number of countries in Asia and the Middle East. “We are looking to expand our market share in Europe. In order to do so we will participate in a number of exhibitions in 2016.”
