Export engine of Dutch onions starts to struggle a bit

The Dutch onion export faced a considerable setback in the last week. In week 5, the export was stuck at less than 16,000 tons, according to preliminary figures from KCB and the GroentenFruit Huis. The end of January and also the month of February are often not the best periods for onion export. But a drop to less than 16,000 tons is a considerable disappointment. Exporters and packers assume that about 20,000 tons of onions need to be exported weekly to properly clear the onion stock in the Netherlands this season. In the preliminary figures, KCB has also applied small corrections to the export quantities in the previous weeks. This has led to a reduction of the preliminary figures from week 27 in 2025 by about 2,500 tons. Combined with the fact that the export in week 5 is smaller than a year ago, this results in a declining lead compared to last season. At this moment, there remains a lead of just over 9%, while the export until mid-November was still more than 20% larger than in the 2024-2025 season. In week 5, Ivory Coast was by far the largest buyer with nearly 4,200 tons. The week before, there were fewer onions shipped to Ivory Coast, but in week 5 there was still a significant volume. The total sales to Ivory Coast have increased to about 156,000 tons. Sales to Great Britain also picked up again in week 5 after a quieter export in week 4. The British are buying significantly more onions than last season. The current total stands at over 93,000 tons, which is more than one third more than the previous year. Gambia also took over more than 1,000 tons of Dutch onions in week 5. Sales to other destinations were somewhat smaller.