Buyers keep quiet at the onion market

Contrary to what we have been used to over the past two years, the onion market is not taking giant steps for once. In fact, the price at the farm gate is more or less marking time this week. Last week and a fortnight ago, various growers tried to get €18 for delivery before Christmas. Sorters are reluctant to do so. This week, €16 seems more realistic than €17, it almost seems. Provided you can find a buyer, of course. Many sorters have more or less completed their stock for December and are now on the market to a limited extent. Taking a position for January is seen as a major risk. For example, there is some interest from processors for €20 in March, but growers are not going to go along with that.

Limits to export
The most recent export figure, which was recorded in week 45, at 32.000 tonnes, is somewhat disappointing. In itself, this fits in with the pattern that is emerging this season. A very good week is always followed by a slightly worse one. Over the last six weeks, the average weekly export has been 34.000 tonnes. It is quite possible that the total processing capacity has decreased somewhat. According to various sorters, staffing levels in particular are the bottleneck. "You want to keep good people for your company. If you let them work through every night, you are actually chasing them away," according to one sorter. Another thing that comes up quite often is that the margins were not such that everything was done to turn as many onions as possible. The last hours of overtime are the most expensive, and they have to be paid for.

The DCA Bale price also shows a plus this week. Although the biggest peak in onion demand seems to be behind us, sorters have so much work that they don't think it's a disaster if they miss an order. On the other hand, agency exporters are noticing that it is becoming easier to arrange a few cars of onions for a customer at the last minute.

Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.