The onion price may not be what many growers expected (or hoped) for. It is not due to exports. The export figure for week 51 is definitely one for the books. There will be some work that has been brought forward in anticipation of Christmas, but that should not spoil the fun.
In week 51, 44.846 tons of onions were exported. That is almost 5.000 tons more than in week 50, when exports also reached 40.000. Almost 45.000 is not yet a record. It has been a while, but in 2020 we had two weeks in which more than 45.000 tons were exported. Over the last eight weeks of this season, the average export is 39.500 tons per week. The moderate price from the grower's perspective may help to give exports a boost in November and December. A total of 742.776 tons were exported this season. This means that exports are hot on the heels of the 2022 harvest year.
Senegal accounted for more than a third of the weekly exports in week 51. The African country imported 15.999 tonnes of onions from the Netherlands. Ivory Coast accounted for 8.380 tonnes. Great Britain is in third place with 3.101 tonnes. West Africa is the main buyer, but Indonesia, Belgium and Israel are also in the top 10 this week. Egypt and Switzerland are at the bottom of the list with 5 kilos of onions each. Egypt has imported 46 kilos so far this season, compared to 45 kilos last season.