There is little to praise for this year's Polish onion harvest. The growing season has also been erratic in this country. This is reflected in the yield and quality. It does offer prospects for the export opportunities of Dutch onions.
The gross volume of Polish onions this year is marginally higher than last season. According to the Polish statistics agency CSO, this amounts to 628.000 tons. Last year the total volume was 615.000 tons and in 2019 520.000 tons. The volume did not start with a 2018 in 6 either. The reason is obvious: drought.
The onion yield in Poland. These are provisional figures for 2021.
Price level stable
Drought is also playing a role this year, although the story varies depending on the growing region. Central Poland (Poznan region) and the north have been dry to very dry. The sorting here is much finer than usual. The south and southwest have had to deal with excessive precipitation. This means that quality is a concern here. The price level is at a stable level in this somewhat tight market. Depending on the sorting, the price varies between €15 and €24 per 100 kilos for sorted and bagged product.
The harvest pressure is off the market, which has allowed the price to recover this month. There is also a noticeable increase in demand for onions from the industry. Painting companies have to go abroad for this. This is necessary anyway because large onions are scarce in our own country. In recent months, the industry has been able to draw on an enormous amount of Dutch onion sets, which have been eagerly used.
Benefiting from onion sets
"A huge amount was exported to Poland this summer," says Machiel Boons onion trade.com. The company specializes, among other things, in the Polish industrial market. "At its peak we were exporting up to seventy trucks a week that way." Boons is also now noticing demand from Poland, but the supply has dried up. "The onion sets have now all been sold. Consignments of seed onions with quality problems were sold immediately during the off-field period. It remains to be seen how the onions will hold up in storage."
Boons expects that during the storage season batches will also have to be sold early for quality reasons. "Because of bacterial illness, which only manifests itself in storage, or shot formation because the MH spraying was not successful." Especially this season, it is worthwhile for growers who doubt the quality to carry out a 'potting soil test' with their onions to monitor the quality. These consignments can certainly be sent to Poland, but Polish buyers are also looking for a consignment without problems, Boons knows. "Packers pay amounts for this that are also charged by Dutch buyers." Many onions do not go east now that Dutch trade is focused on Africa. GroentenFruitHuis has more than 1.700 tons on its books so far this season.
Obstacles
There are two major hurdles for Polish onion companies this season. For example, the exchange rate of the Polish zloty is relatively unfavorable compared to the euro. This has been the case all year round. In the past, the calculation was €0,25 for 1 zloty. This has currently dropped to €0,21. That makes it less favorable to buy onions from the eurozone.
A bigger hurdle is that of rising transportation costs. The diesel price is significantly higher this year. Where an average of €1,11 per liter was paid last year (source: Evofenedex) the price is currently €1,45 per litre. That's 45% more. Boons: "Usually 3,5 to 4 cents per kilo are charged for transport." It is inevitable that these costs will rise, but exactly how much is still unknown." If you calculate that 45%, you arrive at 5 to 6 cents. According to Boons, a cent price increase is plausible.
The Polish market puts a floor in the onion market. Also known in onion circles as the 'Polish broom wagon'. This often involves price buyers, Boons notes. "When onions can be bought cheaper in Germany, Belgium or Ukraine, buyers choose that. The peeling sector in the country has been highly professionalized in recent decades and requires a constant flow of product to meet buyers' agreements. Now there is If there are fewer (large) onions available in the country, they have to cross the border."
Fewer onion sets
It may be useful for the grower to have a buyer available, but the price is ultimately far from cost-covering. The trade in onion sets in particular has had two difficult years. A shrinkage in area is inevitable from this point of view. Yet Boons does not expect a strong correction next year. He considers a maximum decline of a few percent to be realistic. "Not only growers are less interested, this also applies to processors. Most onion onions are grown on the basis of cooperation contracts. In good years, sorters are still loading and processing onion onions while the sowing onion season has already started. The latter always goes to the latter. preference because of shelf life. Signals in the market indicate that processors want fewer obligations. They are then more flexible."
"It is an expensive cultivation, although the prices for starting material are at a slightly lower level than last season," he continues. "At the same time, we see interest in onion onions in the new cultivation areas. Arable farmers there have now gained good experience with yellow seed onions for several years and will continue to pioneer the cultivation. With red, pink and white, but also second-year onion onions."