These are traditionally the weeks in which it has to happen for the onion exporters. This week too, it seems to be going well with the demand for onions. Full house for Africa, some more for Asia, Central America and Europe. Almost all sorters can indulge themselves.
This week, the CBS released the harvest estimate for arable crops, including onions. The total harvest of seed onions is estimated at 1,5 million tons. It would not have been strange if that relatively large harvest had dampened the fun somewhat this week. The harvest is relatively large and in terms of exports, we are not yet approaching peak years. This week, sorters once again have more than enough work. If the packers can just work enough hours, then at least there is a feeling that things are going well.
The fact that there is demand from abroad for Dutch onions has not escaped the attention of the growers. Farmers were already fairly firmly in the saddle and that is certainly not going to get any better. This is further reinforced by the processors who, to put it mildly, do not maintain excessively large work stocks. If the demand is good, they have to go out to the farmers and that causes commotion among the growers. Growers are not unrealistic in themselves, but if they feel that there is more in it, they logically try to get it out. And that is also working out quite well this week, if we look at the trend on the regional fairs.
Growers set the tone
Increasing the bale price is more difficult than increasing the grower price. Several sorters complain about the tight margins. Given the good demand for onions, you would expect there to be more room for improvement. In practice, not every processor dares to push the boundaries. There is a striking similarity with the previous two seasons. Sorters would like to see the bale price as the leading factor, but in practice, growers (within limits) determine the onion price and the bale price follows the grower price.
De DCA quotation Bale price of Onions takes another small step up this week. Most requested size is the medium. For supers the top remains at €25. Overall it is not easy to get much above €20 in the bale with average lots.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.