China: Major price drop in garlic

In November last year, the price of garlic increased to 12.1 RMB per kg to 14.6 RMB per kg. In November 2017, the price dropped severely to 3.4 RMB and 5.4 RMB per kg, which is only a third to a fourth of the price last year. In the Chinese capital of garlic, Jin village in Shandong province, the garlic price has remained steady at 14 RMB per kg from September last year until March 2017. Since then, the price has been climbing upward in April and May to a peak of 21 RMB per kg. This is the highest peak in almost 5 years, but it hasn't lasted very long. The price has only been going down since. 

The reason for the strong and unstable price surges of garlic are mainly caused by heavy fluctuations in the production volumes at the main production regions. According to statistics from the local Agricultural Department, the winter of 2015 was the coldest in over 40 years and caused a serious reduction in the production volumes of garlic in 2016. Of course, the garlic price went up drastically as a result. History tells us that after a strong price surge, an equally strong price drop always occurs. Following the price surge of 2016, many farmers all over China and in the vicinity of the main production region all actively increased their garlic production surface. Adding to that, this year's spring was rather warm with a lot of rain so the growth of the garlic was very favourable. As a result, the total garlic production in the four main production regions has exceeded 6.3 million tons. This is a relative increase of 30% compared to 2017. 

Source: www.cfi.net.cn