The mood is good on the onion market. Trading in the somewhat longer term has died down a bit, but the price is making strides in short-term delivery. It is difficult to substantiate with hard figures, but there seems to be more interest from Europe in Dutch onions. That makes the onion market, to use a stock market term, bullish.
The comment: 'It's actually not possible, but...' has come up before this season and so did this week. Confidence that the market will maintain an upward trend is increasing. And in a rising market you don't easily buy too expensive. Last week the first transactions were at €70 for delivery towards the end of the season. €75 is now being asked, but the trade is not yet willing to accept that. This week it is mainly the short-term matters that are pulling the leg. Below €50 some things are still being done, but according to some traders you can question this in terms of quality. On the other hand, it is certainly not the case that mountains of onions are sold for €60. The pond with free onions is not that big anymore. Certainly not directly from the grower. As a result, trade between players in the chain after the grower, such as speculators and sorters, increases.
Dare to ask
Various sorters and exporters try to honor their regular customers as much as possible and try to make some price concessions where possible. The group of customers who like to shop and only choose the cheapest supplier are now in for a rude awakening. There, sorters dare to ask for the top prize under the guise; If I don't have a problem with the work, I don't have any onions left anyway and if I do have them, I will at least save some money.
The spread in grower prices is wide and this is no different in the bale price. It is almost impossible to give an average bale price. One extreme is triplets that sell for around €50 and the other extreme is super where €75 is no longer an exception. The DCA quotation Bale price of Onions has taken a significant step up across the board. It is mainly the rough dimensions that are sought. But as has been the case all season, the bale price has great difficulty keeping up with grower prices.