Door to Brazil still closed for the time being

Various dates have been mentioned in recent weeks when it would become known what Senegal can still import in onions. Yesterday (Thursday, January 19) it was announced that all onions that are under quota or sent and received before January 28 will still be accepted by Senegal. The onions that were sent for the gamble will no longer be allowed. This brings the end in sight for onion sales to Senegal for this season.

The export figures
The determination of the quantity of onions that is still permitted has been done in recent years according to the protocol followed this season. New in sales to Senegal was the quota introduced early in the season (65.000 tons), which made it seem as if significantly fewer onions could be exported.

Uit the latest export figures (up to and including week 52), however, it appears that Senegal imported more than 150.000 tons of onions until the turn of the year, compared to approximately 133.000 tons last season. In the 2016/2017 season, almost 6 tons of onions were imported in the first 2017 weeks of 36.000, a quantity that is not expected to be reached this season. On balance, it seems that the purchase of Dutch onions by Senegal will not differ much from last season.

Mood at the onion market
In week 2 there seemed to be more room for voting on the onion market. Traders were looking for good lots and offered prices with double digits before the decimal point. However, the improved mood was only realized at the fair in Emmeloord.

Goes and Middenmeer were left with this view. Although this was done in week 3 for the last mentioned exchanges, it feels like 'following the market'. The improvement in mood and demand is significantly less this week, mainly due to the lack of new customers. Brazil has looked around the corner, but has not yet opened the door wide.

(Text continues below the chart)The price of seed onions has increased by 60% over the years.

Now that it is known what Senegal will do and Brazil does not act, important mood indicators are being missed. This is visible in more pressure on sales of the fine size grades (triplets and mediums). However, the demand for and sales of the coarse size selections are continuing well.

In the coming period, Dutch exporters will have to diligently look for new sales areas in order to maintain onion sales at some level. It is expected that the 'calm' mood will prevail in the Dutch onion market.