Shipping delays in the port of Qingdao are hindering ginger and garlic exports. One of three major shipping lines has announced it has postponed all shipments with at least one week. Local export companies that are using the shipping lines have been informed that their exports scheduled for the 4th and 5th of March will not leave the port before March the 12th or 13th.This delay in supply is expected to affect the markets in Europe, in particular in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, in April.
Ginger
Ginger prices are slowly increasing. Farmers are purchasing new roots to start planting for the new crop. The planting itself will start in the beginning of April. Before the planting can start, the young ginger roots will be placed in warm storage facilities. The warmth will speed up sprouting. Once the roots start to sprout they are ready to be planted. This process will take a couple of weeks.
Prices have witnessed a 5% to 10% increase compared to last week, up to 2.20 Yuan per kilogram. The purchasing of young ginger roots is expected to continue for the coming two to three weeks. During this period, prices will go up. After that, prices will likely start to decrease.
Garlic
Local wholesale garlic prices have risen to 9 to 10 Yuan per kilogram. Retail prices have gone up to 15 to 20 Yuan per kilogram. This is significantly higher than retail prices last season, which did not surpass 7 Yuan per kilogram in the same week in 2015.
The price increase can be explained by the effects of cold weather and aftermath of the Spring Festival. Snow earlier in February has delayed some of the garlic transport across China and also led to high transport costs. In addition, cold storage owners are becoming reluctant to sell as their stocks are running low. This, after increased demand during the Lunar New Year festival, is starting to become noticeable on the market. Arrival of the new garlic crop from Yunnan might bring down prices in Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu. However, first impression seems that the bigger part of the Yunnan crop will only be available later than normal, hampered by cold weather in February and current rainfall.