Onion sales to Mauritania remain good

During the first months of this onion season, Africa was the driving force behind the export of Dutch onions. Traditionally, sales to Africa largely disappear after the New Year. For example, Senegal and Mali have already disappeared because they closed their borders to Dutch onions.

Other large African buyers also buy a lot fewer Dutch onions because they are switching to the local harvest. A sales area that is an exception to this is Mauritania. Even after New Year's Eve, exports to Mauritania are still going well.

New export record?
The export figures for week 5 are the most recent. This week, Mauritania purchased 1.696 tons of Dutch onions, which is the end of the year second place became the largest buyer of Dutch onions. In contrast to many African countries, sales to Mauritania remain fairly constant throughout the season.

In the previous season (2016 harvest year), Mauritania ended up in sixth place on the list of largest buyers. The country then purchased 53.750 tons of onions (over the entire season), which represented an export record. This season, Mauritania is well on its way to breaking that export record. Up to and including week 5, the country had already purchased 40.714 tons of onions, 34% more than was purchased in the same period last season.

(Text continues below the chart)The export figures of onions up to and including the 2016 harvest year. 

Surplus?
Whether the enormous increase is healthy remains to be disputed. Many exporters are trying to gain a foothold in Mauritania and the result is that a surplus has arisen.

At the beginning of the season, Mauritania is an important transit country for onions to Mali. However, because Mali has closed its borders to Dutch onions, a large part of the need for Dutch onions has disappeared. The demand for Dutch onions is there, but with more than 40.000 tons the country is currently at its limit.

Local cultivation
Mauritania does not grow onions itself. With other crops, such as rice and carrots, the country is increasingly trying to take cultivation into its own hands. Onions are grown in surrounding countries. Here the cultivation, logistics and storage are not at the level we know in the Netherlands. The result is that these onions are often more expensive than Dutch onions. The price is decisive for importers when importing onions.

Export expectations
For the remainder of the season, exporters expect exports to Mauritania to continue well. However, in the long run the market will be full and we will have to slow down a notch. In the long term, exporters expect exports to Mauritania to be comparable to this season.Mauritania has 4.3 million inhabitants and is 24 times the size of the Netherlands (1.030.700 km2).