The biggest rush seems to be behind us at the onion market. Sorters have done their shopping for December and they don't look much further ahead. However, the mood is changing. The last few weeks were really hard, now it's getting a bit quieter. This is also reflected in the DCA Baal price this week.
You could sense that things would calm down a bit in the onion export. That it will happen in the first week of December is just a bit earlier than many expected. Another boat is planned for next week and with the Christmas holidays later this month it wouldn't have been strange if things didn't slow down until after next week. That's the nice thing about onions, it always turns out differently than you expect.
There is not much reason for concern for sorters for the period up to Christmas. Buyers have brought forward orders due to the rising market and we are now being presented with the bill. Another factor that does not help is transport. Containers are relatively expensive and availability is not a certainty. Do you want to work expensive overtime as a sorter/exporter to do as many tons as possible and just wait and see whether the last kilos are paid for? The answer from various sorters to that question seems to be no for the time being. By doing so, sorters implicitly indicate that the market is healthy and that they have enough work not to have to tackle everything.
Export
The most recent export figure gives the public courage. With approximately 43.500 tonnes in week 46, we have by far the best export week of this season. It is true this season that every good export week is followed by a lesser one. Now growers and sorters can both calculate to their own advantage, but given the harvest, there are still enough onions left for the second half of the season. What the demand will do is of course guesswork, if we are honest. However, there are indicators that are cautiously positive. Large white onions are already quickly finding their way to Southern Europe. In addition, Dutch onions are at a price level that Eastern European buyers can normally also handle. Couple that with a moderate onion harvest in Poland and it could well be that if the demand from Africa drops, European destinations will actually be more attracted to Dutch onions.
The DCA Bale price for onions has largely stabilized this week. The middles have made a step, but that is the bottom that has risen slightly. Last week the mood among sorters was still: we will try to get a cent more next week. This week sellers are mainly satisfied with what they have and they are trying to hold on to that.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.