Danny Deen of the Dutch company, Denimpex, has been in the overseas onion import business since the '70s. Recently, he went on his annual tour.
"Europe has not found itself in this situation since 2007. There are low yields of mainly smaller sizes. A large part of the crops that were treated with MH 30 did not respond to this pesticide. This situation was due to the hot, dry summer."
"It was exactly the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere countries. There, they had a good harvest with good old-fashioned yields per hectare. This is because they had a lot of rain in December. There were also good, dry temperatures in January and February", says this importer.
"The sizes of the onions in the Southern Hemisphere countries were, in contrast, on the much larger side. We have also have not seen such good quality, in general, in a very long time", says Danny. "The prices in Europe are also something we have not experienced in many years. This is, actually, the case worldwide this season."
Denimpex started importing onions from China in November 2018 already. They receive weekly supplies of 60/80, 70/90, and 95/110 sizes. There is a shortage of these sizes all over Europe, except in Spain. "We saw this coming", continues Danny. "That is why we had our GlobalGAP and Smeta documentation in order."
"The Chinese onions are mostly of very high quality. They are well received in the various countries that are looking for these sizes."
Tasmania and Argentina
Normally, Denimpex also does imports from Japan at this time of year. However, this country's had too small a harvest to export to Europe this year. Their large size onions were, therefore, in high demand. This would have made them too expensive in Europe.
Chile
This month, Denimpex is getting onions from America too. This is because they were not able to get onions from China for three weeks. This situation was caused by the Chinese New Year.
The first New Zealand onions, of all sizes, are already on their way. They will reach Europe at the beginning of March. This year, white onions will be imported from India, Mexico, and Australia. The first of these will arrive from India this week.
Red onions will start to find their way to Europe at the beginning of March. These small volumes will come from New Zealand and Tasmania. Then, at the end of May, the red onion sector will be mainly dominated by this product from Egypt.
"The onion harvest did not go very well in Brazil this year. So, this country of 210 million people will import high volumes from Argentina and Chile. We, therefore, do not expect these three countries to send many onions to Europe", says Danny.
"Egypt has been exporting high volumes of onions to Russia and the Arabic countries. They will do so again this season. It is going to be a long, hot summer for Europe. This is due to the global situation and the high price expectations in the various supply countries", Danny concludes.
For more information:
Danny Deen
Denimpex
10 Sint Antoniesbree Street
1011 HB Amsterdam – Holland
Phone: + 31 (0) 206 246 390
Danny@denimpex.nl
www.denimpex.nl