Quieter sales cause coarser onions to increase slightly in price

The prices of the coarser onions are slightly benefiting from a lower sales rate. The quieter market, on the other hand, has slightly suppressed the prices of the medium-sized ones. The difference in price development has a clear identifiable reason. Overfull markets in West Africa are the reason that sales have been somewhat sluggish in recent weeks. Quite a lot of onions are still being sold, but not to the extent that we have seen for weeks on end. It is also an unprecedented situation for the Netherlands that for an extended period over 40,000 tonnes of onions crossed the border weekly. It really couldn't get any better. Even the most knowledgeable onion experts started to believe that the sales of onions this season knew no limits. However, major buyers applied the brakes at the end of November. They could not find a place quickly enough for the abundant flow of onions from the Netherlands. As a result, onions remained on the docks in Dakar. Ultimately, something had to give. In week 46, the Netherlands shipped no less than 18,000 tonnes of onions to Senegal. A week later, another 14,000 tonnes went there. It could only get crazy, and it turned out that way. One of the exporters states that enough onions have been loaded for Senegal to last until the end of February. Meanwhile, several shipments are still on their way this week and next week that must arrive before the border closes on January 1. Opinions about the fact that the Senegalese border will close on January 1 for Dutch onions are divided. There are stakeholders who say that the border will remain closed from that date. According to others, an early Ramadan is a reason to still allow some Dutch onions into Senegal in January. Potatoes to Senegal One exporter reports that certain companies have already been granted licenses for imports in the first month of 2026. Others add that there are still some onions going to Senegal in January every year. The fact that quite a few potatoes are being shipped along with the onion boats next week may contribute to this. This means that fewer onions are on the way than planned. This could be just enough to persuade the authorities in Dakar to allow some imports in January. Although shopping is being done for Christmas, it has been somewhat quieter in the Dutch sorting companies in recent weeks. Due to a lower demand for onions in the size range of 50 to 70 millimeters, the quantity in the coarser sizes has also been scaled back. Meanwhile, the demand for these onions has remained stable. This allowed sorters to charge a slightly higher price for these onions last week. This also explains why the medium size was somewhat under pressure while the coarser sizes were able to register a slight increase. Read here the explanation from DCA Market Intelligence on the new listings.