For the third time this season, Dutch onion exports have exceeded 40.000 tons per week. In previous years, weekly exports rarely exceeded this level during the first three months of the season.
This season, exports have exceeded 40.000 tons twice before in the first thirteen weeks. This happened in the last full week of September in 2020 and again in 2021.
The four full weeks in September combined yielded total exports of over 155.000 tons. This is over 10.000 tons higher than the peaks in September 2021 and 2022. Compared to the same period last year, exports increased by 20.000 tons.
September, the peak month, has already lifted total exports this season to 371.000 tons, according to preliminary data from KCB and GroentenFruit Huis. This is with 39 weeks remaining in the season. Exports should benefit from strong sales to Africa, especially until mid-January. Senegal will then close its borders to imported onions.
In week 39, Senegal was the largest buyer, with a total of 10.830 tons. Ivory Coast is also contributing significantly to the reduction of the large onion stocks in the Netherlands. Sales to this West African country increased to over 8.000 tons in the last full week of September. This means Ivory Coast is still relatively close to Senegal's.
Third on the list is traditionally the United Kingdom. Exports to the UK continue to run smoothly, with a weekly volume of almost 3.300 tons. Many countries are buying significantly more Dutch onions this year. The biggest exception is Israel. Last year, they needed a lot of onions, but this year, there's no such need. As a result, exports to this country have dropped by a massive 1106% to just 820 tons. Last year, the country needed almost 10.000 tons of onions from the Netherlands.