If you look at the prices on the regional stock exchanges and have seen the latest export figures, there seems to be little going on on the onion market. For the course on the onion market we are only dependent on the demand from West Africa. As expected, there is now a risk of a kink in the cable.
Until mid-January, there is little going on in the onion market. Most exporters have been in agreement about that for a long time. What would happen after that was very uncertain. We have now arrived at about mid-January and the contours of a quieter period in the offing are emerging. We have had the weeks with two boats for Senegal and a mountain of loose containers. That is completely normal for this time of year. Export weeks of around 20.000 tonnes are common in January, but that takes some getting used to when the sector did double that a few weeks ago.
Movement
Both growers and buyers of sorted onions feel that something is shifting on the Dutch onion market. Farmers with onions suitable for Africa who do not yet have a buyer are getting nervous and are now prepared to make concessions. These are not the onions that the market is waiting for. Good onions are being offered less. All in all, it is difficult to get a realistic picture of the market. The same applies to a certain extent to the bale price. African buyers are used to the current price level and are quite happy with the last onions.
Potential customers from Eastern Europe think differently about this. Importers from the east are boasting of sufficient supply in their own region at lower prices. That will undoubtedly be true, but the fact that information is being provided here is a positive sign. Southern Europe also does some Dutch onions. They do go for quality and are also prepared to pay for it. All in all, these are not the volumes that sorters and exporters are used to for Africa. The export capacity that could not be large enough a few weeks ago is now working against the Dutch onion sector, now that things are getting quieter.
The fact that the onion market is becoming somewhat quieter is also reflected in the bale price. Prices are taking a step back across the board. It is striking that the prices of everything larger than triplets are quite close together.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.