Large volumes of Dutch onions are already crossing the border early in the season. "The season also started a lot earlier, but exports also broke loose a lot earlier. We can speak of record weeks," says Eric Moerdijk of the onion grading and packing station Monie from Nieuwdorp. "It is always the big question when Senegal opens, but although the full opening is not even official yet, a lot of onions are already going to Africa."
"The relatively low prices make us competitive in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the price level has stabilised, but it only takes a little oversupply afloat and the bale price is already under pressure again due to fierce competition in the sector, so the market balance is very fragile," the onion packer observes. "But it is very positive that exports are at full speed. Hopefully, we can continue to export good volumes at a reasonable price and thus, with good quality, also regain markets we have lost in recent years."
© Monie NieuwdorpPhoto of unloading the onions this year
"I think the quality of the onions is remarkably good. From the winter planting of onions to the sowing of onions, the season started early. We have had a fairly dry growing season from start to finish, which is generally positive for quality. So far, most of the onions have come from Brabant and Limburg, and those yields are really very good. Now the harvest above the rivers has also started in full, and there the yields are a fraction behind the initial expectations, mainly due to the warm week which left the last tonnes of aftergrowth behind."
"But yields are above average anyway, and there are a lot of onions available. But if you see now how many onions are leaving on a weekly basis, by the turn of the year, you might be quite surprised at what's gone, and there really doesn't have to be an automatic massive oversupply by the second half of the season. But the season is still early, and real endings cannot be predicted right now," Eric says.
"Red onion sales are not yet as they should be. Egypt was on the market for quite a long time, and the expansion in the red segment was substantial. By now, red onion sets are largely off the market, though. But there are also varieties sown this year that are not normally grown here and that not everyone dares to put into storage. Furthermore, on average, the coarseness is not everywhere, and it is often difficult, especially in this period, to sell off the medium sizes in the red onions."
For more information:
Eric Moerdijk
Monie Nieuwdorp
Hertenweg 61
4455 TK Nieuwdorp
+31 (0)113 612845
[email protected]
www.monie.nl
