There is a lot of tension in the Dutch onion market. The season is off to a good start and despite the fact that the onion harvest is not late, it takes a lot of energy to get onions. What is going on?
Judging by the tension on the Dutch onion market, a very special onion season may well present itself. You regularly hear the 2018 harvest year, referring to the high prices that were realized at the time. Whether this season can eventually measure up to 2018 is still too early. Traces of it are visible.
Competition
This week, for example, the grower prices have risen faster than the bale prices, so that the tension on the margins at the sorting companies has not diminished. Onion sets are now traded for roughly €25, while the bale prices tend to make the step from €30 to €31 per 100 kilos for triplets, medium and coarse.
More info about the DCA listing Bale price Onions can be found by clicking on the link.
Not only the sorter is a buyer on the onion market. The onion baker, not to mention the Polish industry, is also showing demand. In the current landscape, whoever pays the most will take the loot (in this case, the onions).
The larger work in the marketing season is in the pipeline. Senegal is expected to open its borders in the second half of August. The first conventional ship for Senegal will be loaded around 15 August, it is said. This means that many onions are needed in a short time, which are currently not in stock at the sorter. The hunger to turn is great and the sorter seems to be getting in the way above all. However, there is not (much) time to think, because those who wait too long look at the rear lamps of the competitor's car.
Harvest
The heat plays a limited role in bringing in the harvest. Some fields suffer too much from clods, which means that harvesting comes to a standstill. Others try to use only the cooler times of the day to get the harvest off the land. If you use the reel to make the soil more workable, you saddle the sorter with extra drying costs.
All in all, there are plenty of worries, also with regard to finances. The high onion prices mean that sorting companies have a lot of money outstanding. After all, the grower will not be paid until the buyer's money has been received. In recent years, the latter has in any case tended to push the payment backwards. In addition, there were the necessary financial cracks last season, which also fuels the tension over that bow. In order to be able to operate as a sorter in such a market, you have to get hold of the wheel. However, the grower does not seem to want to give up his place behind the wheel yet.