Data shows that the overall surface area devoted to fresh ginger plantation in China before 2009 was around 120 thousand hectares, which increased to 160 thousand hectares in Shandong, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi in 2010. That number further increased to 287 thousand hectares in 2011, although it slightly decreased in 2012. It is, however, impossible to avoid a market situation wher supply greatly exceeds demand.

Low prices gradually cause the overall surface area devoted to fresh ginger plantation to decrease. Preliminary data shows that the overall surface area devoted to fresh ginger plantation decreased by around 67 thousand hectares this year. People in the industry also say that many production areas suffered from natural disasters and poor weather conditions, which further decreased the production volume, which in turn caused the price to increase.

Additional reasons for this development include the swift increase in processing capacity. Although Anqiu in Shandong only has a production volume of around 900 thousand to 1 million tons, the original number of processing companies increased from several tens to more than a hundred, which means that Anqiu not only supplies the domestic market, but now also exports to more than 50 countries in Southeast Asia, Europe, the USA, and Africa. This includes not only fresh ginger, but also pickled ginger, dried ginger slices, ginger powder, ginger oil, and sweetened ginger.