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Analysis Onions

Contours of the new onion season are emerging

7 July 2023 - Jurphaas Lugtenburg

The dust is slowly settling down and the contours of the onion market are becoming visible little by little. The overconfidence of last season is gone and the sense of reality is returning to both growers and sorters. That certainly doesn't mean that it won't work. In fact, with a bit of luck it can turn out very well with the onion sets.

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It is not yet very busy in the onion trade, but that could hardly be otherwise with barely the first full week of July behind us. Quite a bit of rain fell across the Netherlands earlier this week and that is visibly good for the onions. Moisture was also desperately needed to get the onion sets out of the ground. What is paid at the farm for the onion sets that can be loaded at short notice has remained approximately the same as last week, on average somewhere between €35 and €40. The fact that there is more supply from the grower side does not have a direct effect on the price.

The bale price, on the other hand, is under considerable pressure. Dutch exporters have entered at a high price and now have to reduce their prices to stimulate demand. There is quite a bit of room for that if you look at the grower price. However, several sorters point out that the quality of the early onions is not up to scratch and that it takes quite a lot of work to remove the thick necks and bald ones.  

Senegal shows up early
Another important factor for Dutch exports is Senegal. There is talk that the borders will open earlier this year and that Dutch onions will be able to enter from August 1. With a few weeks of transport time, the first containers for Senegal could be loaded in the second half of next week. Whether Senegal will open on August 1 will be decided next week in the West African country. But if we reach a price level that allows large-scale exports in that direction, we can more easily use the larger acreage of onion sets this season and keep the market clean. And a market where there is no pushback is usually the best place to do business for all players.

The range in the bale price remains quite wide. Compared to last week, the DCA quotation Bale price of Onions taken a big step back. On average, the bale price was now low at €70. Compared to Southern Europe, Dutch onions are still relatively expensive. It is therefore certainly not excluded that the bale price will remain under pressure for a while.

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