There is still a lot of talk and writing about the 2024 harvest with the relatively high prices with which the season is gradually ending. For example, in the third week of May, €50 per 100 kilos was paid for delivery in June from mechanical cooling. Is there also a stir in the market from the new harvest that is in the field?
The seed onions from the 2024 harvest are now almost sold out. As a result, the trade in winter and plant onions is now underway. The harvests of the winter and plant onions appear to be average. In areas where growers have been able to irrigate the plots well, these onions do have a clear lead in growth. As has been reported before, the export of onions in Europe is continuing well, with the export record of 2021 approaching. This is despite the supply of onions from New Zealand and Egypt, which can compete well with European onions in terms of price.
On the Transaction App, where regularly traded lots are reported, winter onions were traded for €40 per 100 kilos. Second-year plant onions have a price range of €26,50 and €30, depending on the harvest date. The number of reported transactions indicates that packers are actively acting on the new harvest. Sorting companies do not want to run the risk of coming to a standstill in the transition to the new season. The ongoing drought and limited precipitation in the main growing areas are making buyers nervous and growers hesitant. Precipitation is still being forecast for the current week, but there is talk of nice summer weather for the weeks to come.
Sowing onions from the field
In the wake of the planting onions, new harvest seed onions are also being traded. In addition to the drought, the moderate emergence also plays a role. Furthermore, in various cultivation areas such as Drenthe and Groningen, reports are being made of grazing in the plots, which has an irrevocable effect on the final field yield. Reports of a reduction in the area abroad (Belgium and Germany) also play a role. Insiders have the impression that in the Netherlands the area of onions has not grown substantially compared to last year.
Packers, but also speculators, are jumping on these sentiments. For new harvest €20 has already been agreed, grown off the land for yellow seed onions. Also, deals have been done well above €20 with participation for delivery dry from the shed in the period November to January. With that, the new season is starting relatively strong.
If we look at the different stock market listings at the start of the season, you see very different results. In brackets: the start of the first listing of yellow seed onions from the land.
| Harvest year | Goes | Middenmeer | Emmeloord |
| 2020 | €14,25 (18-8-2020) | €14,00 (19-8-2020) | €13,50 (6-8-2020) |
| 2021 | €7,50 (9-8-2021) | €7,75 (8-9-2021) | €6,50 (19-8-2021) |
| 2022 | €21,00 (1-8-2022) | €24,00 (10-8-2022) | €21,00 (4-8-2022) |
| 2023 | €38,75 (7-8-2023) | €34,50 (23-8-2023) | €32,50 (10-8-2023) |
| 2024 | €12,00 (19-8-2024) | €9,00 (4-9-2024) | €11,00 (22-8-2024) |
Export Senegal
The optimism is striking, despite recent Senegal has announced that its borders will be closed until December for foreign onions. Whether this should be taken with a grain of salt remains to be seen. Senegal is and remains very important for the sale of Dutch onions in the first period of the season.