The overall price of garlic in Jinxiang Market slightly increased last week, while the trade volume slightly diminished. The volume purchased for processing and export grew. Traders with storage were hesitant to sell and tried to inflate the asking price. Buyers purchased according to market fluctuations, but their enthusiasm waned.
The reasons for this situation are as follows:
1. Last week was the period around New Year's Eve and there were fewer people in the market during the three-day holiday. The trade volume therefore shrunk.
2. The domestic market has prepared for the festive period, and the trade volume temporarily decreased. Traders with stock in storage are hesitant to sell and try to increase the price before they sell. Buyers are mainly interested in the domestic market and in garlic processing industries. They purchase according to market demand. The volume purchased for processing of garlic slices grew, but the main product variety in that industry is not fresh garlic, but preserved garlic.
3. The Jinxiang garlic slice processing industry daily absorbs around 5 thousand tons of garlic. The supply for this industry mainly comes from traders with preserved garlic in storage. The factories rarely buy their their own garlic.
4. The price also went up because the number of people who speculate in the garlic market increased.
Source: Jinxiang Garlic Market