It is not currently busy at all in onions exports. "We haven't been too busy in the last few months, though it does depend on which destination you're primarily active. But in recent years, we haven't had to rely on the season's second half for onions," says Rene Tiggelman of Handelsmaatschappij Van Langevelde in the Netherlands.
"Brazil, for example, hasn't really been fully on the market. In other years, we'd send a good volume there. We still export a little to Africa, and I think we'll be sending the last onions to Spain this week. Those exports have been going through for quite a while."
"It's generally been a reasonable year. Prices are still around €0.20 for the large and medium sizes. Qualitatively, the season's been better than expected. There were a few quality problems with the early planting onions, but we've had no complaints about the sowing onions," says Rene. "Potato exports have been fairly consistent this year. However, we have regular buyers for those."
Rene cannot say if all the onions will be sold. "They should all eventually find buyers and get sold for a few cents. I do worry about the high container rates. They affected our trade last year, and I doubt we can expect any improvement in this area in the coming six months," he concludes.
For more information:
René Tiggelman
Van Langevelde Handelsmaatschappij
4d Stationsweg
4416 PJ, Kruiningen, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 113 382 600
Email: rene@javala.nl
Website: www.javala.nl