“Although the planted onion acreage in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) was slightly above normal in 2015, extreme temperatures started to cause the first problems in the market,” says Brandon Calandri with Antelope Distributing. “As a result of weather conditions during the growing season, storage onions are faced with an extreme high call-out rate,” Calandri adds. This has resulted in a supply shortage in the PNW, the main onion growing region in the US.Increased demand from Mexico
On top of that, excessive rains in Central Mexico’s León area have caused decay in the Mexican crop. Reduced availability of onions in Mexico has created an unexpected increased demand from Mexico for US onions.
White onions running at $26-$28
This perfect storm has resulted in prices of white onions reaching excessively high levels. According to Calandri, in the southwest, white onions run at $26-28 for a 50 lb. bag. Demand out of Mexico is starting to slightly come down as the Tampico region will start up onion production very soon. “However, even if Mexico at this point wouldn’t buy anything else, supplies are still not large enough to satisfy domestic demand,” shared Calandri.Red onions are running at $16/25 lb. due to as much as a 20 percent cull-out rate in the PNW. “I’ve seen prices as low as $6 and as high as $30 for a 25 lb. bag of reds, but $16 is what I would call a fantastic market. We are also seeing increased demand for yellow onions due to supply shortage out of the PNW,” mentioned Calandri.
“In the next four to six weeks, Mexico’s onion production will come into full swing and the effect on the US market is yet to be seen.”
For more information:
Brandon Calandri
Antelope Distributing
Tel: (+1) 661-946-9022