Onion market brought back down to earth

Often, things turn out a bit differently than you expect. This also applies to the onion market. It is normally the busiest time of the year, around late November to early December, for onion sorters. This season is different. After the peak weeks relatively early in the season, the market feels a bit calmer. Growers, sorters, and exporters are once again brought back down to earth. When you compare it with potatoes, wheat, and apparently sugar beets, it can still be said that things are somewhat better in the onion market. A price of €17 or €18, as is common this week, doesn't have much to say, many growers believe. Especially considering that a few weeks ago, €20 was both asked and paid for delivery in December. Many sorters secured enough onions at the end of October and beginning of November. Exports were booming, and the expectation was that towards December the DCA Benchmark Price for Packed Onions would automatically rise towards €30. However, the reality has proven to be stubborn, and instead of maintaining the upward trend, there is a small correction. This is not something to panic over, but if your purchase was too expensive compared to your sales, it still hurts. Mass means cash It's onion logic, but a thin sorting margin was compensated according to various sorting companies by the large volumes that were sold, the 'mass means cash' principle. The mass is a bit different this week. Of course, a processor always claims to be busy. From trade exporters, you hear that it is no trouble to fill an order at the last minute. There is certainly a serious volume of onions being sold, but various insiders indicate that they do not expect us to get close to, let alone exceed, 40,000 tonnes this week. Regarding the period after Christmas, most processors are not yet concerned, or perhaps more accurately: they do not want to be concerned. The export to Senegal and Ivory Coast is temporarily a bit sluggish, and directly comes the story that the border will be completely closed on January 1. That is a scenario you must certainly consider, but in the past, we have often seen that whether or not with loose containers, considerable amounts of Dutch onions are still drawn from West Africa in January. Most sorters do not have that many onions on the books for January. This possibly offers hope for growers in the coming weeks who forgot to say yes to an offer for Africa-suitable onions during the past period. The onion market is a buyers' market this week. This applies to trade at the farm but also for trade in bales. The DCA Benchmark Price for Packed Onions is a bit under pressure this week.