Supply and demand are not well balanced on the onion market. Growers with good coarse onions are still waiting for a while. There is no real movement there. Supply consists largely of onions with a story. These are in themselves quite easily absorbed provided the price is right.
When the full steam ahead for Africa is over, there is almost always a setback in the Dutch onion sector. This season is no exception and this week too, the processors did not overflow with orders, to put it mildly. Where that led to unrest in recent weeks, the mood among traders and sorters now feels more resigned. 'We'll see whether demand picks up again in the coming weeks', is roughly the gist.
Growers with good coarse onions are not in a hurry to sell them. €15 is more or less the lower limit for the qualitatively good onions. Incidentally, there is not much trade for direct delivery. Growers keep the market on its toes in that respect. Some sorters make a sport of outdoing each other with the lowest price. According to insiders, dropping the bale price much further does not make much sense to generate extra trade. It is the growers who are putting on the brakes.
Wide range
In the term for delivery in March, April, up to around €20 is paid with participation. That is a sign that buyers do have confidence in the onion market. On the other hand, at the bottom of the quality spectrum, it is Polish buyers who dominate the market. If there is really something wrong with them and they are fine, then €4, €5 gross is net for which business is done. That goes up to around €8 to €10 for the better onions. That does not make the gap between Poland and the bottom of the Dutch listings that big.
The DCA bale price is taking another step back this week. To reach €20 per bale over the average lots, you have to work really hard. It really is a buyer's market. Some sorters are now doing more small packaging, for example, to keep the margins a bit better. Now is the time for that, you just have to have the onions for it.
Read here is the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.