Affected by the reduction in the production of new garlic and the unsaleability of some products, due to mold, the price at origin is currently rising, and most overseas customers are in a wait-and-see state, while the enthusiasm for purchasing is not high. Mr. Wang is the sales manager of Jining Shangzhuo Food Co., Ltd. He shared his views on the recent garlic market and market expectations for the next few weeks with FreshPlaza.

According to him, most Southeast Asian regions have recently purchased old garlic. The price of old garlic is around US$70, which is far lower than that of new garlic. However, most of the old garlic is not suitable for long-distance transportation, and most of the stocks will be processed into dehydrated garlic flakes for export.

"In terms of production areas, the new garlic was harvested in mid-May. The output was 10%-15% lower than that of the same period last year. The reason for this is firstly that the planting area in the Shandong production areas has decreased. Secondly, some early-ripening garlic was affected by yellow leaf disease, and the specifications were influenced to a certain extent.

Wang said: "In terms of quality, during the garlic harvest this season, continuous rainy weather was encountered during the drying process, which caused mold, and moldy products accounted for as much as 15%. Secondly, the size of the new garlic this season is generally small. The garlic of the 4.5-5.0 size accounts for 55%-60%, and the garlic of the 6.0# and above size only accounts for about 10%. Overall, the quality of this season's garlic is much worse than in previous years."

In terms of prices, the prices at the origin have been very unstable recently, rising and falling. The price this week is about 30% higher than two weeks ago. "The current export quotations are quite chaotic. Due to the small number of overseas orders, some exporters have maliciously quoted low prices to open up new customers," said Wang. "The current price of 5.5-size garlic FOB Rotterdam is US$1,750-1,850/ton. The price has increased by about US$400/ton compared with 45 days ago."

When talking about export expectations for the next few weeks, Wang said, "Due to the current high prices, foreign customers are waiting. It is expected that overseas merchants will take some time to accept the higher price."

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com