Will buying enthusiasm in the onion market continue for a while?

The onion market is difficult to predict. This has become clear in recent weeks. Some processors had little confidence in the first weeks of January and let their working stock decrease a bit too much. Growers are well aware that there is demand for onions. On the sales side, various exporters note that it is becoming quieter. Onions are and remain the most volatile product for most arable farmers. In the second half of November, growers easily said no to €18 for immediate sales, and buyers had to do their best to secure a deal at €20 for December or January. Shortly thereafter, demand fell back a bit and buying enthusiasm was gone again. This somewhat resembles what is happening now in the onion trade. In the first two weeks of January, there is more demand than various players had anticipated. Additionally, buyers are looking for good large onions because they are simply scarce, and it is expected that demand from Southern Europe could increase further. If you have a top batch as a grower, taking a gamble is not a bad idea according to various insiders. Don't forget to sellFor a finer batch, especially if you doubt whether it can be stored for long, the situation is different. If things go wrong, it could take until the end of February or early March for a new buying round to come, and then there are no guarantees that prices will be at a higher level, said a trader. Some traders say they prefer to regret having sold rather than regret having kept them, of course, they have an interest in that. Various buyers point to the large onion harvest in the Netherlands, which means that despite a lot of onions being exported in the first half of the season, there is still a large quantity left. Perhaps a larger percentage than normal will be discarded due to quality issues, but it is balanced out by the fact that there has been less gray import towards Poland. Various exporters are actively calculating how many tons need to be sold per week, and most of those you ask come in well above 20,000 tons. While prices for growers (for good onions) are slightly rising, the DCA Benchmark Price for Packed Onions is under pressure. Demand from Africa is returning, especially noticeable in the sales of triple onions. Supermarkets are holding their ground because there are few of them. There is a ceiling to that. If you ask for 1 cent more, you lose the order, as some traders indicate.