In week 39, almost 40,000 tons of Dutch onions were exported. That's according to published onion export figures. Exporter Gerard Hoekman van Mulder Onions is skeptical about these. "Some figures may have been corrected from the previous week. Because 40,000 tons of onions; that's quite a lot for one week. Then no-one rested."
That doesn't alter the fact that he's noticed a good demand for the Dutch onions. "We thrive on others' misery; that's always the case. This time it is the Indian export ban. That gives us a lot of export space. Especially with red onions to the Far East. Bangladesh, Colombia, Hong Kong, the Philippines - that whole corner currently wants Dutch onions."
Is this market sustainable? "The Indian export ban is expected to end at the end of November. So it seems we have free rein for the time being. But that export ban might be extended", says Gerard. "Fortunately, the onions are of good quality. We've had some problems when it was so extremely hot. However, we haven't had any issues with the sowing onions yet."
"There's some movement in the price now. That's partly due to the demand. But also because, when there's no off-land product available, farmers can get the same price for their stored onions. The price for all grades is now at around €0.20 on average. That's a few cents more than the last few weeks," Gerard concludes.
For more information:
Mulder Onions BV
32 Hagenroder Street
6464 CP, Kerkrade, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 455 678 700
Fax: +41 (0) 455 678 708
Email: gerard@mulder-onions.com
Website: www.mulder-onions.com