Onion exports are proceeding smoothly, and the mood among sorters and exporters is high. Meanwhile, growers are checking the calendar and realizing that if they want to get something done before Christmas, they shouldn't delay much longer. What is still a bit of a downer for some is the quality of the onions. Not everyone is equally aware of the (internal) quality.
It's been mentioned before: at the beginning of the season, the quality of the onions was excellent, but now that they've been indoors for a while, a number of problems are emerging. Fusarium is the biggest killer this season. It wasn't noticeable in the swath, but after a few weeks of drying, the ends of some of the onions in the batch seem to be softening. Often, it's the Polish peeling companies that market these onions with a story, provided the price is right. Poland, however, is practically absent from the market right now. This also applies to good onions, by the way.
Some of the Dutch onions shipped directly from the grower to a Polish trader or processor don't appear in official export statistics. According to several insiders, quite substantial volumes have disappeared from the market through gray exports over the past few seasons. The fact that not much is currently being exported through these channels could lead to surprises in the actual onion stock, according to insiders.
Technology stands for nothing
When trade is booming, quality rejections are less likely to occur. When things get out of hand and really start to take up capacity, things can be different, but that's where new technologies come into play. Optical sorting has really taken off. Some insiders indicate that during peak export periods, a batch with, say, 12% or 15% tare weight would take up too much capacity. Now, the boundaries can be pushed a bit.
As long as the onions don't smear and the percentage with only internal defects is reasonable, more and more is possible. Manual sorting requires highly experienced people to pick out fusarium, as is currently common, and even then, too much often slips through for good measure. The optical sorter works more accurately and detects an infestation faster than the human eye, although it might occasionally pick up a good onion. Starting an hour earlier and continuing an hour later is also a bit easier when a full sorting team doesn't have to be on the conveyor belt.
Automated sorting isn't just reserved for onion packers. Seed potato growers, in particular, but some ware potato growers, have such a machine. While the machine is already there, the onions can easily be transported on it. Especially in the seed potato growing region in the north of the country, where transport to onion packers in the southwest is still a significant expense, every kilo of tare that doesn't have to be transported counts. The practice of having a batch with a defect run through the sorter yourself had fallen somewhat out of favor due to the extra work. Now that there's no real sweeper on the market, like Polish peelers, this might become more common this season.
Bale price slightly on the rise
The DCA onion bale price is rising slightly this week. There are fewer triplet onions this year. Sharp bidding to sell off the finest sizes or selling them along with the middlemen for Africa isn't necessary. On the other end of the spectrum, it's not as if the supermarkets, which are also few in number, can ask for much more. The range within bale prices is quite narrow.
Read Here the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new quotations.