Although little concrete can be said about the expected yields of seed onions, the first signs of the onion set harvest appear to be good. More onions become available every day, which means that more and more sorting companies can soon be released.
The transition between the seasons is relatively long for the Netherlands this year, due to a significant harvest reduction. Nevertheless, onions from the old harvest were still removed until the beginning of June, while in previous years this continued until the beginning of July. This means that the processing of the old and the new harvest are mixed during this period. This year is an exception. It doesn't feel like much is happening now, but the start of the new season is nothing special.
In terms of pricing, the onion market still a lot like last season. The high bale prices of last season are slowly making way for a gradual reduction. There is now an offer from a sorting company for €35 (bale price), while 1 week ago it was approximately €60. The prices apply globally to all grades. The onion sets offered are coarse, making fine size selections scarce.
Export must proceed smoothly
In the coming weeks, the availability of onions will increase daily and smooth export is then important. There is currently sufficient dry product available at the packers and they are eager to get started. There is supply pressure from that side. It is expected that if onion prices are further reduced, the export volume will increase accordingly.
The current onion supply is partly sold to customers in Central America. Many African destinations are still able to support themselves. This also applies to Senegal, which is the Netherlands' largest onion buyer every year. When the weather conditions no longer allow the onions to be harvested, they will have to be imported again. This is not yet the case in the very short term.
Furthermore, Great Britain is a stable customer. A notable customer for this time of year is Poland, which needs onions for packaging as well as for peeling/industry. However, Scandinavia is also on the market at the moment. This is because our own cultivation there is not yet ready for harvest.
Buffers
The new season seems to encounter few onion buffers in advance, which makes the sales markets feel clean. It is difficult to say whether a lot of energy should be invested in recapturing markets that were not or less fortunate last season. Based on the strength that the Netherlands has (such as a large sorting capacity and excellent logistics), it can be assumed that customers will soon come back if prices are favorable.
Based on it onion area an overly gloomy view of the new season is not necessary for the time being. As far as seed onions are concerned, there is an important growth period ahead, which can still move in all directions in terms of mood.
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