The growers set the tone on the onion market and the traders and sorters follow suit. On December, business is done at €35, which means that the bale price has to make a step left or right. That realization now seems to be gaining ground in the market. Furthermore, the export figure this week made tongues loose.
“We have our work, but it's not busy.” That has been the story at most sorting companies for weeks now. A week with an export of more than 40.000 tons was somewhat surprising in the onion world. By the way, it is not entirely illogical that there is such an outlier every now and then. It depends on whether or not two ships for Senegal, for example, are close together. With a maximum sorting capacity of approximately 50.000 per week, you are still 'only' operating at 40.000% with 80.
Margin
The margin between grower price and bale price is wafer thin. According to traders, good coarse onions for direct delivery cost upwards of €30. In the long term, for delivery in December, approximately €35 is the lower end and further towards spring, €40 will still be included. It is evident that the bale price must make a step forward. The buyers of the sorted onions will also realize this. Some sorters notice that customers are ordering more because they expect the bale price to rise. A point of attention is the payment behavior of African customers. If they know that the export season is coming to an end, they may want to wait a very long time before paying and with the current prices, the amounts that remain outstanding are large.
A cautious upward movement in the bale price can also be seen in the DCA quotation. The DCA quotation Bale price of Onions is taking a cautious step up, just like last week. All grades combined, a good batch of onions comes to approximately €36 to €37. Sales of triplets are somewhat difficult and the price is lagging behind at an average of €32. For the supermarkets that are relatively few this season, prices up to €39 are mentioned.