The sorters carefully start turning the first (winter) onion sets. Grower prices are at a relatively high level. The market has yet to really get its bearings for the sorted onions. Volumes are still relatively small and buyers are looking at which way the market is going. The first new Dutch onions are really for enthusiasts with customers who appreciate that.
It is not really busy yet in the onion trade and that fits well with this phase of the season. Quite a few onions have been harvested and there is still a lot planned, but it will take a while before the flow of new onions gets going properly. A shower wouldn't hurt growth, but the dry, steady weather is easy for planning around harvesting and loading, several buyers indicate. The onions that were harvested this week are still very green and not yet suitable for just sending to any customer, according to sorters. It really is a specific group of customers who are in the market for this.
Sorters and speculators who have recorded early onions with a harvest date in consultation are a bit confused about what to do. With the more moderate temperatures and precipitation in the weather forecast, quite a few more kilos will grow and, no less important, the onions will also ripen a little further. The temptation for some is therefore great to maintain patience. On the other hand, there is also a group that says that the chance that we will be able to keep the bale price at this level for a few more weeks is not that great. In terms of margin it can work out well, so why wait.
Feeling and scanning
It is difficult at the moment to give a good reflection of the onion market in the bale price. Many sorters are still in maintenance and the companies that operate all year round often have a mix of the last remnants of the old harvest from the Netherlands, imports and the first new winter onion sets. A mixed bag in what is sorted and therefore also a mixed bag in bale prices. And that is also reflected in the DCA quotation Bale price of Onions. The price range is very wide. For good onions, prices range roughly from €75 to just under €100. Compared to other European onions, our prices in the Netherlands are very high. Particularly when it comes to triplets, sorters are willing to make compromises, because it is expected that there will be no shortage of fine onions for the time being. There is room between grower price and bale price to be more in line with other European countries. And according to various exporters, onion buyers are aware of this just a little too well.