It remains remarkable this week that in the apparently calm onion market, growers are reporting a desire to buy onions. This feeds the feeling that sorters work with small stocks of work. Every demand for onions placed by exporters with sorters leads to an immediately perceptible desire to buy.
The transactions this week show a slightly higher price level. The transaction list of the Holland Onion Association (HOA) showed an 7 euro transaction in the northern cultivation area in week 8,00, which was also the case in week 6. However, the bottom rose from 4,50 euros (wk 6) to 5,00 euros (wk 7). The average price level increased from 6,39 euros to 6,61 euros.
On the farms, the purchasing spirit of the onion trade translated into transactions of up to 8,50 euros for delivery within 3 weeks. These transactions contributed to quotes up to 8,00 euros at the top. Business has also been done for a fifty-fifty participation with a floor of 8,00 euros for delivery in April. Apparently there is a need for some certainty of work inventory for that period.
Sales remain the sum of many small volumes. It is the strengths of Nederland BV that ensure that onion sales continue, possibly sometimes better than expected. Because the volume to be sorted weekly is limited, the coarse grades in particular are more difficult to obtain. The trade is therefore mainly looking for large lots. The comment that accompanied the fair in Emmeloord this week: 'Onions of 30% to 60% coarse are difficult to place' makes it clear that the market cannot get rid of a large supply of fine grades.
Working with so little stock is quite exceptional for this period of the year. The export figures do not yet show a decline in the exported volume. In week 5 the last onions were shipped to Senegal. It is expected that the decline in Dutch onion exports will only be noticeable in the figures for weeks 6 and 7.
There are no consistent stories about the developments that await the onion market in the coming weeks. Among buyers of the field crop it is said that the increased tension between purchasing and bale price is sometimes a reason to pause. Growers, on the other hand, are generally not yet convinced that onion pricing could be over.
Whatever movement the market will make, it remains important to keep a close eye on the movements of the onion market. The tightness in the distribution of export orders in combination with the hunger for sorting work means that the position of sorters is currently unenviable.