Things are certainly not booming on the onion market. Sorters are excited to see what will happen if demand from Africa drops. Growers are more likely to believe that this season could follow the same pattern as last season. The fact that the onion market has its vagaries is not only the case in the Netherlands.
The holidays are over, but the onion trade still seems to be in holiday mode. This week, according to various sorters, there is not much to do. This is often followed by a comment, such as that we have one working day less this week, some of the staff are off and that some still have some catching up to do from last week.
According to some sorters, there could be more planned for next week. But here too it depends on who you speak to. One person says: 'It is often quiet at the beginning of January and, so to speak, everything you bring in is a bonus', while another finds anything that is done less than in mid-December to be disappointing.
Large fluctuations in weekly exports do not do any good to confidence among onion buyers. A few consistently good export weeks in a row are rare this season and total exports up to and including week 50 are 15% behind compared to the same period last season. And compared to last season, Poland is somewhat aloof on the Dutch market. The unrest in the Red Sea is an additional obstacle for exports to the Middle East and Asia. "You will see that the Red Sea is free again when the New Zealand onions have to come our way," said an exporter.
New trading partners
Developments in the Asian market are following each other in rapid succession. Exporters doing business with Indonesia have been in a quandary over phytosanitary certification in recent weeks. For a while it seemed that no more Dutch onions were allowed to go to Indonesia at all. That ended with a fizzle, but the country has purchased fewer Dutch onions this season and as it stands now, exports to Indonesia will end completely as of January 1. It is not that Indonesia does not need imported onions. Before that, Indonesia only sought rapprochement with India. Some sources report that Indonesia would like to import 900.000 onions from India. A minor detail is that India has largely restricted onion exports in recent months with an export ban, export duties and minimum prices.
Indian policy towards onions is shifting. Both wholesale and consumer prices of onions fell by about a third in India last month. Various Indian media report, based on trade and government sources, that India wants to allow exports through government cooperatives. Government intervention in the form of the quota system is not very effective according to the same media. The Kharifonions (as the onions grown in the rainy season are called) that are now coming onto the market cannot be stored. What the government buys from growers must be sold immediately. The Kharif crop more or less serves as a filler for any gaps that may be left in the Rabionions (main crop) and with the Kharif onions Rabi onions (which can be stored) are released, for example for export.
De DCA quotation Bale price of Onions is under some pressure this week. This is partly because sorters try to get extra orders and play around with the price to do so. Some stores of sorted onions have been sitting in front of the drying wall for too long and they are now happy to say goodbye.