Onion exports are running like clockwork, and meanwhile, the bale price is slowly creeping up to around 22–23 cents for medium-sized onions and 24 cents for coarse onions. Still, Rinus Wisse of Wiscomex in Yerseke cautions against overly high expectations. “We shouldn’t get carried away. We need these exports badly enough to clear the surplus onions,” he says.

“We’re currently seeing a situation similar to two years ago. Because exports are going well and stocks are generally not too large, there’s a great deal of optimism among growers,” Rinus explains. “But normally, a price increase is based on demand exceeding supply, and that’s not the case right now. If we push prices higher, exports may remain steady for now, but if customers start dropping out, we’ll face problems later in the season.”

© Wiscomex bv

“We’ve seen it before, prices seemed to only go up, but then during the Berlin fair, we were all looking at each other, wondering what still needed to move, and by the end of the season, the price collapsed. That’s why I question whether prices are rising for an actual reason, or just for the sake of rising.”

“If we assume 15% more onions than last year, that means a total of 1.425 million tons need to move. Over the past five years, an average of 64% has been exported before the turn of the year. That means you need 42,000 tons of exports per week for the remaining weeks until year-end. Then, with the current volume in the new year, you’d still need to export 20,000 tons per week. Nothing is impossible, but that’s looking at the situation through very rose-coloured glasses,” continues Rinus.

“At the end of November and early December, we always see a dip in exports when everyone has sold their onions for Christmas. On top of that, there’s currently no demand at the lower end of the market. Last year, we still had shadow exports of lower and medium-quality batches going to Poland, which now also need to find a destination. All in all, I think a bit of moderation is needed, and ideally, prices should move steadily rather than sharply upward.”

For more information:
Rinus Wisse
Wiscomex
Govert Flincklaan 14
4401 SG Yerseke
Tel: +31 113 250 520
Mob: +31 (0) 6 38 35 52 99
[email protected]
www.wiscomex.com