Chinese garlic farmers are currently in the midst of their main harvest season and are working hard to produce the best quality garlic possible. This year's harvest is expected to bring in a better income than last season, with prices averaging around CNY6.0 per kilo compared to CNY2.4 per kilo previously.
Smaller-sized garlic expected
Abram Kong from Jining Arrow International Trade shares his opinion: "The harvest has not been without its challenges. Due to cold weather in April, the total planting area has decreased by 10-15%, resulting in smaller-sized garlic. The percentage of 65mm sized garlic is particularly low, at 5%, while the percentage of 60mm garlic is down 10% from last season. In contrast, 55 mm-sized garlic accounts for 65% of the crop, with 50mm and 45mm making up the remaining 20%."
He continues: "Moreover, the quality of this year's garlic is not as good as last season's, with one skin missing, which may affect its high-quality pre-packaging for Euro supermarkets and increased packing costs in the future".
Despite these challenges, farmers are making progress. Under good weather conditions, all garlic is harvested in bags and dried in the fields before being transferred back home for root cutting and sales. Meanwhile, factories and storage facilities are also starting to move at the beginning of the harvest season in order to capitalize on what is expected to be a good year.
Abram says: "We expect the new crop to start on the market with top price levels but to then move slowly, influenced by the high purchase costs from farmers. Furthermore, the market price may still come down after a few weeks, as there are still 1.3 million tons of old-crop garlic in cold storage. Currently, the old-crop garlic market is weak, while the new-crop garlic market remains hot, with speculators contributing to market fluctuations".
In the coming weeks, the final quantity of garlic harvested will become clear, and it remains to be seen whether prices will continue to stay at a high level.
For more information:
Abram Kong
Jining Arrow International Trade Co.,Ltd
Whatsapp:+86 13655475808
A: NO.99 Jinyu Road,Jining City,Shandong Province,P.R.China
T: +86-537-2980830
M: +86-13655475808
E: abramkong@arrowinternational.cn