Despite limited availability and current high market prices, Dutch onion exports continue to do well, especially to Europe.
Countries such as the UK, Belgium and Germany have so far clearly bought more onions from the Netherlands than in previous years. Britain has traditionally been a big buyer. The export counter as of the 3rd week is 86,600 tons, which is 6,000 tons more than last year.
The growth of onion exports to Belgium is striking. So far, the Belgians have bought more than 40,000 tons of onions from the Netherlands. This is almost double what it was last year. In addition, demand for onions from the 2022 harvest increased significantly from Germany and slightly less from Portugal and Spain.
Apart from Europe, West Africa remains in the Dutch onion market. Now the main focus of these foreign exports will be on countries such as Guinea, Mauritania and Côte d’Ivoire. Senegal purchased another 400 tons of onions in the 3rd week. This brings the total exports to this country to almost 160,000 tons, and this seems to be about the quota for this export season.
The price rises to an average of 60 euros
A smaller onion crop in the Netherlands as well as neighboring countries is already providing a limited supply to the onion market throughout the season. Due to continued demand, onion prices have already been raised to a fixed price throughout the season. This week, Landbouwbeurs Noord – en Centraal-Netherlands increased the price of onions by 6.50 euros to an average of 60 euros per 100 kg for yellow onion sets.