In the last week, onion prices have had a strong increase as the kilo went from $8 to $14, i.e. 75 per cent increase. The reason for this sudden rise in prices is because the rains affected and reduced the stock of onions being grown in Bahia Blanca, the leading provider of San Juan at this time. According to Juan Carlos Gimenez, President of the society of temporary producers and greengrocers, prices will remain high until November, when they should stabilize.
The increase is more significant when compared to June last year. Back then greengrocers were able to buy a 20-kilo bag for $70, while now they pay $280 for it, which means prices have increased by 300 percent. According to the information provided by Gimenez, the interannual increase is of 180 percent, since the kilo was worth $5 in 2014.
"The increase may be noticed by people who go to the grocery store and want to buy everything with $ 30, but the difference is very high compared to last year when there was an overproduction; back then onion prices were very low," said the head of the entity. Even though San Juan's supply is lower than in the previous year, the main reason for the increase in prices of the gold grain variety was the fall in production suffered by BahÃa Blanca because of the heavy rains. "This variety is very prone to having fungus after the rains, that's why part of the production arrives with a bad quality. Perhaps some onions are ok, but the fungus expands and when they come to our province we must dispose of them," he said. The greengrocer of a downtown business complained, "I have to dispose of 3 kilos per every 20 kilo bag because the onion comes in a very bad state."
The price of a kilo of onions will remain high until the stock from Bahia Blanca and the province is restored. Gimenez said the harvest of the hectares in San Juan would stabilize the stock in early November. "The production recovers in September with the valencianita variety, in October with the first harvests of synthetic and it should be stable and prices should have decreased by November," he said. This situation not only complicates the domestic economy, because the price increase also generates benefits for those who sell the vegetable. "People think that this increase favors local producers, but that is not the case because we buy the onion from abroad, as the province's production was very low. It is good to have high prices when you have stock to sell. Furthermore, this could even harm us because, since prices increased, everybody may start planting onions," he added.
Source: Diario de Cuyo