On Thursday 28 September, news came suddenly from Senegal. The country has set a quota of 65.000 tons of onions, during the period from September 1 to December 1, 2017. Week 36 is the first full week of September. It is therefore interesting to look at this week's preliminary export figure to Senegal.
Senegal has been the largest buyer of Dutch onions for years. Last year the country had a market share of almost 16%. A lot of onions go to Senegal, especially in the autumn. What does the quota mean for the coming period?
4.963 tons of onions to Senegal
The provisional export figure for week 36 is set at 4.963 tons of onions. Week 36 is the first full week of September and therefore gives a first indication of the consequences of the quota.
If week 36 is representative of the rest of September, then between 20.000 and 25.000 tons of onions were exported to Senegal last month. This would mean that 1 to 40.000 tons of onions could be sent to Senegal until December 45.000.
If the provisional export figures are representative for the period up to December 1, then on balance the quota makes little difference. The total duration of the quota is 13 weeks, times just under 5.000 tons this equates to 65.000 tons of onions.
Negative trend
The provisional export figures for the total export market amount to 36 tons of onions in week 21.134. That is 2.500 tons less than 1 week earlier. A negative trend in the export figures started from week 34 onwards. In the 2 weeks that followed, gradually fewer onions were exported. Yet exports continue stable. The export figures have continued to fluctuate between 31 and 21.000 tonnes from week 24.400 onwards.
Despite the quota, Senegal is still the largest buyer of Dutch onions. After Senegal, the most onions were exported to Great Britain (1.779 tons) and Ivory Coast (1.621 tons).