The recent Laba-festival (January 24th) stimulated the depressed garlic market as it is a custom to eat pickled garlic during this festival. This has caused a slight increase in the price of garlic. Jinxiang, "the hometown of garlic", also welcomed the first peak period of business volume in 2018 as a result of the festival.
The increased production volume of garlic in 2017 caused the price to drop and the garlic market to become depressed. As the month of the Laba-festival arrived, the business volume of garlic significantly increased. On the one hand, the domestic sales volume of garlic suddenly increased. And on the other hand, foreign buyers hurriedly purchased large volumes of garlic imported from China before the Spring Festival break takes place. This brought much profit to Chinese garlic merchants.
The main reason behind the fluctuation of the price of garlic is the increase and decrease of production volume. In 2017 the price of garlic was depressed. This has dampened the spirits of garlic farmers in Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu. It is estimated that the production volume of the new production season in May 2018 will be smaller than it was in 2017.
Source: chinanews.com