China: Onion price too low for selling

In one of the main onion cultivation regions of Gansu in China, the area for cultivation reached 16 thousand hectares in 2014. The total production volume is over 1.5 million tons. "We come from a small village near Zhangye in Gansu province. The production volume and quality are superb this year. But there are fewer customers to buy the onions. The local buying shops in Gansu are keeping the price very low. The farmers don't make money. They are unwilling to sell, but want to wait for the developments over the next few months," says M. Li, an onion farmer.

Mr. Li explains that "the village cultivates several onion varieties. The cultivation area is over 1000 hectares, with an average yield of more than 120 tons per hectare. Last year a lot of Shandong customers came to Gansu to buy onions, so the overall sales situation of the onions isn't bad. The quality and volume of production this year was good, but then all of a sudden fewer customers came. We're not clear about the reasons why either."

"Right now yellow onions are at 800 RMB per ton. Red onions go for 1200 RMB per ton. That price is already a lot lower than last year. Yellow onions for example were sold for 1400 RMB per ton last year and one hectare could yield 150 thousand onions. This year though, the price is about to drop below half of last year's price. Because onions can be preserved for a long time, many farmers aren't willing to sell for such a low price. That's why they are waiting for a change in the market situation."

"Customers that hope to supply China's demand for onions can come to us to buy them. The farmers aren't demanding to make a big profit, but they also don't want to sell below the production cost and lose money."

For more information about Gansu onions, please contact: Mr. Li
Telephone: (+86) 18394659916