Onion exports back on track after dip

The Dutch onion export returns to the desired mode after a disappointing export at the end of January. In the first week of February, the export is back on track to bring the stocks to market in a proper manner. In week 6, the export is just above 20,000 tons, according to preliminary figures from the KCB and the GroentenFruit Huis. That amount is also needed weekly by exporters to sell the current stocks this season. A simple calculation supports this idea. The Dutch harvest of seed onions increased to 1.75 million tons in 2025. If about 80% of that needs to be exported, then an export of just over 1.4 million tons is required. With nearly 1 million tons exported, there are still about 400,000 tons to be exported in the last twenty weeks of the season. This amounts to about 20,000 tons weekly. Furthermore, no account has been taken of the relatively large harvest of red onions this season. Price-wise, these onions - against all expectations - hold up very well compared to yellow onions. Based on that, it is expected that the red onions will do quite well alongside the yellow variety. In the coming weeks, it will have to be seen whether that remains the case. The season for red onions is indeed somewhat shorter than for yellow onions. In the first week of February, the export quantity to Ivory Coast remained close to 4,000 tons. The export to Great Britain was ramped up again, climbing to nearly 3,700 tons during that period. The Brits have thus taken nearly 100,000 tons this season in total and are on track for a weekly volume exceeding 3,000 tons. West African Guinea accounted for an offload of 2,500 tons of Dutch onions in week 6. Following that is Sierra Leone with about 1,560 tons and Gambia with 1,170 tons. Malaysia is next on the list, coming just shy of 1,000 tons that week. According to the KCB and GroentenFruit Huis, the lead over last year in early February is still about 9%. Up to that point, a total of 986,973 tons have been exported. The threshold of 1 million tons of export is thus already in sight early this season.