"Recently, the Environmental Protection Inspection Group has investigated ginger processing facilities in Shandong province, and has closed many of them. According to regulations, the coal fueled air-drying equipment has to be replaced by natural gas stoves," says Charlie from Anqiu Baisheng Food Co Ltd.
"However, it is not easy to comply with these regulations. Firstly, the pipelines for natural gas have not been laid yet in the facilities. Furthermore, the cloudy and rainy weather make it very hard to continuously do natural air-drying. Moreover, the companies have been ordered to cut off the power, so they cannot clean. Lastly, foreign orders are still waiting to be shipped."
"From 13 August on, many ginger companies were forced to close down temporarily; currently 80% of the facilities are closed. They can now only postpone their foreign shipments. In the past week, the export quantity of Anqiu ginger has declined steeply, and the price continues to rise. By the peak period in September, the problem will get even worse. The companies now cannot do anything but wait for further notice of local or central environmental protection inspection groups."
