This season, thanks to good weather conditions and the careful cultivation of growers and strengthened management in the hope of maintaining the quality and high prices seen last season, 95% of the garlic growing centers across China has seen increased production. The first export volumes dispatched at the end of May have arrived at their destinations a few days ago. Mr. Li, a garlic exporter in Shandong, talked about the recent market.
"The planted area increased by 10-15% compared with last season, and the bulb is much larger. The yield per mu has increased by nearly 10%. Higher production has led to oversupply in the market and lower prices. At the beginning of the season, the purchase price of premium grade garlic was only 1.2 yuan per half a kilo, a lot lower than the same period of last year,” Mr. Lee said. “Over the past month, the domestic market has been stable. Growers have slowly been putting products on the market, and traders of storage garlic have also been purchasing in an orderly fashion. Prices have also been stable, only fluctuating within the range of about 0.03 to 0.05 yuan per day. Currently, the price of medium-grade mixed garlic is around 1.25-1.4 yuan."
“The overseas market has been quiet recently, and the volume of orders is not large,” Mr. Li said. "This year, Egyptian garlic gained access to the Brazilian market. Due to the anti-dumping duties slapped on China and customs clearance costs, our price is slightly higher than theirs, which has had some impact on exporters. The current price for exports to Brazil is about 780 US dollars/ton."
"Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for garlic in China this year is slightly lower than in previous years, ” When talking about the market in the coming weeks, Mr. Li said. “The economic downturn that occurred overseas and the logistical obstacles have also affected exports. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that there may be speculations and large traders of storage goods entering the industry later on, stirring up changes in the garlic market. All of these factors can affect the garlic market. As far as the current situation is concerned, the market in the next few weeks is not very clear. "