The demand for onions from abroad is not disappointing around the holidays. Admittedly, sorting companies are of course not working at full capacity or are even completely closed. That can give a distorted picture. If we are lucky, it is an omen that there will still be a considerable demand for onions in the first weeks of January.
Half of the Netherlands has a day off these days. The onion sector is no exception. The sorters who do continue around the holidays have no complaints about the interest in onions. Because there is less competition, there is a nice plus - certainly for the rush orders. Whether that will hold up during the first full week of January, when everyone is back in business, is another matter. Those who continue working these days will be rewarded for it.
To wait or not
How the onion market will develop in the coming weeks is and remains a difficult question. Growers with good onions in storage are not in a hurry to sell. They dare to wait until February or March to see which way the coin falls. It is mainly the growers with lower quality onions who are making themselves heard. They have sometimes missed an opportunity. Lower quality onions, sorters are not very keen on that now. "If you already have few people, you do not want to sort batches that require extra work", according to a sorter.
However, it is certainly not impossible that there will be another round of buying at the growers in early January. The biggest threat to Dutch onion exporters is almost the availability of transport. Containers are difficult to book and what is available is well priced.
The DCA Bale price onions is going up a notch this week. The supply is limited by two days off at Christmas. Sorters who work through the Christmas holidays dare to ask more. Buyers who absolutely want onions now go along with that.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.