Short workweek slows onion trade

The onion market is not running smoothly at the moment. This applies both to trade at the grower level and to exports. Quality differences are partly to blame. A disrupted working week — with King’s Day in the Netherlands and May 1 in much of Europe — is not generating any additional activity. In fact, several sorters and exporters report that the market is worryingly quiet. The spread in onion prices in trade at the grower level is wide. That now also applies to the bag price. The relatively warm weather is not doing the quality of the onions any good. In the shed, the grower can still keep them sufficiently cool, partly thanks to the cool nights. Loading at 20 degrees and then hours on the truck, sorting, rechecking, a bit more by the drying wall and then packing, if you have a lot that already falls apart easily or already has a sprout in it, you will notice that now all at once. That partly explains why some sorters, especially for the sizes that do not move so well, come through very sharply on the turn. Whether that is the way to do it is open to discussion. A lower price does not mean more demand. Import Demand from abroad is somewhat lacking. England, Spain and Portugal remain in the market for coarse and jumbo onions, but according to some insiders it is becoming less rather than more. Some English buyers also have onions from New Zealand on the planning, according to some sources. Egypt is also already knocking a little on the European door. Not that serious volumes are already coming onto the market from there, but it is being used to dampen the mood a little. Eastern Europe is only buying Dutch onions in small quantities. According to insiders, they can get even cheaper onions closer to home. A positive point is that the onion price in Austria is on the rise. This week the Landwirtschaftskammer Österreich lists €18 to €22 for sorted onions loose in the crate. Source: Landwirtschaftskammer Österreich It is difficult to give a neat reflection of the bag price in the DCA Bag Price. A lot in size 45-65 mm that has already stood a little too long is assigned a very different price than beautiful 50-70 mm suitable for distant export. Coarse and supers are doing well in themselves, but here some exporters do note that you certainly can no longer ask anything for a good onion. The lower quality that is also present pulls the market down somewhat as a whole.