The export trend of onions can be read well this season. After the dip in the weeks leading up to Christmas and the turn of the year, exports are picking up again and continuing where they left off before the holidays.
It has been a special season so far if we look at the export progress of the onions up to and including week 2. Records in the onion country seem to have a short life, because it is also raining records again in the 2019-2020 season.
Never before
The most recent onion export figures refer to week 2 of 2020. Based on preliminary results, the figures show an export result of 34.169 tons. Including subsequent information of 72.755 kilos, the export counter now stands at 762.321 tonnes. This corresponds to an average of 27.225 tons of exports per week. This result has never before been achieved by Dutch exporters.
Senegal made the largest contribution to this result with a seasonal total of 164.618 tonnes, more than 21,5%. This means that this season may be heading for another record in terms of Senegalese sales. Until now, that record stood at 168.925 tons in the 2016 harvest year. With 93.524 tons, Ivory Coast is the largest buyer after Senegal, but does not break a record. This amounts to 106.477 tons in the 2017 harvest year.
Last good export week
In week 2, the distant destinations also participated well. For example, the Philippines and Malaysia are in the top 5 of largest buyers with 2.491 tons and 2.008 tons respectively. The interim position for the season for the latter countries is 20.721 tons and 41.591 tons. Week 3 of 2020 is expected to be the last good export week for the time being, with preliminary results not available until next week at the earliest.