By Rod Nickel and Farah Master
WINNIPEG, Manitoba/HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The pandemic's crushing effect on global travel has actually grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to deal with everything from the typical cold to impotency, at a time when health is leading of customers' minds.
Canada is the world's second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of its exports delivered to Hong Kong on their way to mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan.
The pandemic has devastated the specific niche trade, however, in another example of the virus's disruption to the international food and agriculture supply chain. Outbreaks have likewise stopped fruit deliveries, closed down meat plants and sickened migrant farm workers.
Farmers in the United States, the fourth-largest exporter, are suffering too.
A ginseng crop can use up to 5 years to grow. But even as he begins this year's harvest, Remi Van De Slyke in Norfolk County, Ontario, has a barn loaded with in 2015's ginseng.
The problem is that travel restrictions have actually stopped Chinese buyers from visiting to check the crop, which has actually depressed sales.
Canada's diplomatic pressures with Beijing have not assisted, stated Van De Slyke, chairman of Ontario Ginseng Growers Association.
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"Everyone is locked down which's triggering us a huge issue," he said. "We're struck in all directions here."
Across Canada, as much as 1.8 million pounds, or 20% of in 2015's crop, remains unsold, stated Rebecca Coates, executive director of the Ontario growers association.
Canada shipped 354,305 kg worth C$ 11 million ($8.22 million)to Hong Kong from May through July this year as coronavirus infections peaked in Canada, one-third of the value from the exact same duration a year previously.
Lately, some purchasers have actually been "circling around like sharks" to see if they can purchase for less than the production expense, Coates said.
HEALTH AWARENESS RISING
Demand in China looks strong.
A trader who is a veteran Canadian ginseng importer based in Xiamen city, Fujian province, says health is an even greater concern after the pandemic.
"After COVID-19, individuals's awareness Cure for Impotence health care may rise more than previously (and) we might increase our imports as well," the trader stated.
Sales of Chinese-grown ginseng have actually spiked recently as a replacement for costlier imports, stated a sales representative at a Chinese medicine shop in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.
Wholesale importers have been known to acquire as much as 100,000 pounds of ginseng separately at Ontario-based Great Mountain Ginseng, which was required to shut its retailers, including one at Niagara Falls, during spring lockdowns.
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The shops have reopened, but the purchasers and travelers have not come back, stated general supervisor Schelling Yeh.
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"We've been hit hard," Yeh said. "If you're unable to see the item are you going to purchase it?"
Canada's farming ministry is trying to assist the ginseng sector diversify to other markets, representative James Watson stated.
Across the border, most U.S. ginseng is grown in Wisconsin. President Donald Trump, who is running Cure for Impotency re-election on Nov. 3, kept in mind farmers' pain as he revealed a new round of pandemic aid in the battleground state.
But Trump's conflicts with Chinese management over trade concerns have done more to dissuade U.S. sales to China than the coronavirus crisis, said Wisconsin farmer Mike Burmeister.
"Chinese trade is so crucial to my industry. The world really is a small place when it pertains to ginseng." ($1 = 1.3389 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Farah Master in Hong Kong
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Ginseng Piles up in Canada Throughout Pandemic Despite Chinese Demand
Aurelia Lionel edited this page 2025-06-03 02:08:24 +00:00