Onion exports from New Zealand have been fairly stable in recent years. That is no longer the case this year. What's going on with New Zealand's onion exports and how exceptional is that?
New Zealand onions have long heralded the transition to a new onion season in Western European retail. Overall, the total export figure is fairly stable. This has changed this year. Based on the most recent information (from week 21), the gap compared to the six-year average has increased to more than 31%. This concerns a volume of 44.000 tons.
Don't dip this big before
Other years in which there was a dip in sales - up to and including week 21 - were 2011 with 114.000 tons and 2012 with 121.000 tons. Many destinations purchased significantly fewer onions. The exceptions are Japan, which purchased 11.678 tons of onions, which is 9.069 more than last year and 3.648 tons more than the six-year average. Taiwan also purchased 8.770 tons more onions with 2.411 tons. Sales to the Pacific Islands remained more or less stable, at around 8.500 tons.
The British take the cake
Up to and including week 21, approximately 39.000 tons of onions were shipped to mainland Europe. The six-year average is 73.800 tons. At 70.680 tonnes, the twelve-year average does not deviate much. Only 6.300 tons went to Dutch ports, compared to 17.000 tons last year. 19.100 tons of onions were shipped to German destinations, compared to 28.160 tons last year. In percentage terms, it is mainly the British who are failing this season. Up to and including week 21, they purchased a total of 774 tons of onions, compared to 11.155 tons a year ago with a multi-year average of 8.500 tons.{{dataviewSnapshot(2_1654596984)}}