The Egyptian garlic campaign has just kicked off, with a considerable drop in acreage and volumes, and a steady rise in prices, according to Mohamed Shaaban, general manager of Garlico.
Shaaban explains: "At Garlico, we made our first harvest on February 25th and sent our first container load to Europe on March 1st, consisting of green wet garlic fully in cloves."
The producer continued: "The area planted in Egypt has halved, so volumes are down by 50%. Red garlic is more abundant than white garlic this season, as usual, and is available in larger sizes with an appetizing aesthetic appearance. Despite the drop in acreage, we have good productivity, very good harvest quality, and larger sizes reaching 55/60/65 and 70mm".
Prices at the start of the season are far from stable, and are rising day by day, says Shaaban. "This is due to the drop in production and high demand. It will be difficult this year to guarantee good prices to buyers, but we will do our best for our regular customers. Buyers who place orders early will be able to load more containers. Egyptian garlic will nevertheless remain the most competitive on the market. If garlic from Spain and Argentina sells for around 3 dollars a kilo, and Chinese garlic is even more expensive, our garlic stands at around 2 dollars a kilo."
So far, the Egyptian garlic industry has not suffered the effects of the Red Sea crisis, according to Shaaban. "We are currently marketing wet green garlic destined for Europe. If the Red Sea crisis persists later in the season, we will have to deal with it and it will simply mean that our transport costs will double."
Egyptian exporters are already seeing a drop in demand from Taiwan, one of their main markets because prices are too high, adds Shaaban, "The same applies to Brazil. However, we currently have solid demand from Europe, the United States, and the Arab countries. We can also still count on local demand in Egypt, where garlic is an essential commodity."
"We have prepared for the season by planting 200 hectares and investing in new machines from China for garlic calibration, which has greatly improved our quality," concludes the producer.
For more information:
Mohamed Shaaban
Garlico Egypt
Tel/Whatsapp: +20 111 309 5812
Email: mohamed.shaaban@garlico-eg.com
www.garlico-eg.com