According to The Voice of Rural China, when stored garlic went for sale at the beginning of October, the garlic price continuously dropped. In one month, it dropped 1 yuan per kilogram. Compared to last year, the garlic price even halved. Many storage owners and traders are now in trouble, and some are even trying to quickly sell off their goods.
China has seen two major garlic price increases, one in 2010 and one in 2016. These were accompanied by major price drops the next year and heavy price fluctuations. Last year's garlic price was around 5 yuan per 500 gram, which was an increase of 88%. This excited many farmers, who then drastically increased their production, but the market did not respond.
This year's production has increased, and the stored supply is the highest since the past five years. The sales have increased somewhat this year, but there is no shortage on the market, as sellers still have products in storage. Because there is an abundant supply, sellers fear that the prices will drop again soon. As people are only buying small quantities, the supply will not be sold very fast.
Keeping garlic in storage for a longer period of time affects its quality, up until the point that it cannot be sold anymore. There are only limited quantities of high quality garlic, and dropping the prices to promote sales has become the traders' only option. The Chambers of Commerce from Henan, Shandong and Jiangsu are planning to process the stored garlic into sliced garlic, so that it can be stored for a longer time, as a response to the slow sales speed.
Source: CNR