For the feeling, it's a bit calmer this week at the onion processors. That fits well with the onion market, which often shows a fluctuating trend. Senegal is the topic of conversation among exporters. They reportedly have enough onions on the quay and seem to be slightly less interested in Dutch onions for the time being. Growers have little to say about that. Nevertheless, trade at the farm continues steadily.
How many onions have been harvested, what can be exported for the new year, and what will the market consequently do? The opinions on this vary widely. No matter how you look at it, a considerable amount of onions have been sown, which means that even with an average yield, we still have a relatively large harvest. This is separate from the quantity of onions in the German border region, some of which will likely end up in the Netherlands as well. A large harvest requires a high export pace to keep the market clean. The export figure for week 37, at over 37,000 tons, was encouraging in that regard.
The onions may be there, but the growers still need to be willing to sell them. There is no room for buyers to take a breather. It's definitely not the case that growers don't want to sell anything at all. An overwhelming supply of onions in temporary storage - which need to be cleared out because the potatoes are coming in and some sorters were counting on that - is also not (yet) the case. Both farmers and packers are realistically engaged in the game, and it's a bit of give and take from both sides. The fact that growers are not giving in completely is seen as a sign by some insiders. It would be very unusual for us to have a repeat of the past two seasons with record prices. But it's not a foregone conclusion that a large harvest necessarily means this will be a season with low prices.
Position or no position
Sorters are busy in the background discussing who does or doesn't have a position. If one says the market could rise in the coming weeks, the competitors quickly comment, 'he has very expensive onions on his hands.' If another predicts the market will fall, the response is, 'he doesn't have any onions and is trying to push down the grower price.' This dynamic always plays out, but it's a bit more pronounced now. Or at least it's being said more openly.
Export is a bit calmer this week. A boat has been loaded for Senegal, but it already departed earlier this week. Most of the onions for that shipment were harvested last week. Orders often come in at the last minute, some sorters complain. As a result, it's sometimes a struggle to have everything ready on time, even though the total number of tons processed in a day is not particularly high. Additionally, the last field onions are coming in, which also adds to the workload.
While grower prices are slightly trending upwards, the DCA Benchmark Price for packed onions is under a bit of pressure. The lower end of the listing remains stable, but there are some concessions at the top end. Supermarkets are hard to come by, despite not having a particularly high demand. Overall, the onions are not very large this year, according to packers.