After the hectic pace of the past few weeks, things are now calming down on the onion market. The demand for onions from Africa to Dutch onions remains good, but the Africa season is coming to an end. Many Eastern European employees are on Christmas vacation. This ensures that various sorting companies take it a bit easier.
The onion season has been running smoothly so far. "It's easy to do business in an upward market," say several insiders. Speculators have stirred up the market from time to time and that has worked out well so far. There appears to be still good demand for onions from Africa until the first weeks of January. The big question is: what next? Eastern European buyers are inquiring about onions, but are not yet saying yes to the current prices, which they find too high. On the one hand, the fact that there is a demand for onions is a good sign, but on the other hand, there is apparently still sufficient supply in Europe, so buyers from Eastern Europe do not necessarily have to buy in the Netherlands.
Go ahead or not?
The onion market can go in different directions in the second half of the season, but two scenarios are common among sorters this week. Some are clearing the current workload and are very careful about taking positions. They assume that there may be a correction in the price and do not want to be left with onions that are too expensive. Another part thinks that we are heading for a very quiet period and that, if the supply of cheap onions in Europe dries up, the demand for Dutch onions will pick up again.
The DCA quotation Bale price of Onions not making any strange jumps this week. On average, the bale price is around €50 per 100 kilos, which is virtually the same as last week. There is quite a lot of variation between the prices of different sorters. This is partly due to the quality of the sanding lots and partly to the large variation in purchasing prices.