Indian white onion exports are markedly more competitive this season after last year's 20% export duty removal and a stronger Euro driving CFR prices substantially lower year-on-year, says Danish Shah of Sanghar Exports, a onion exporter to markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
White onion shipments began this week from Gujarat's Bhavnagar district growing belt, where unseasonal October rains caused early-sown crop mortality and delayed the season's start, Danish explains. "While initial volumes remain modest through February, resowing from mid-November will restore production levels roughly in line with last year, setting up a sharp ramp-up from March through the traditional mid-February to mid-April peak export window. After this period, rising temperatures typically tighten shelf life and slow export flows."
© Sanghar Exports
Acreage in the western Gujarat hub continues to expand, catering to strong demand from international markets alongside growing domestic consumption in food service and quick-service restaurant sectors. "Quality improvements through improved agronomy, stricter grading protocols, and post-harvest handling ensure lot-to-lot consistency, making arrivals for longer transit routes more predictable. This reliability proves essential as many shipping services are routing via the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal, adding roughly 10-15 days to Europe-bound shipments and compressing the effective selling window by about two weeks," Danish emphasizes.
© Sanghar Exports
According to Danish, Europe drives primary demand through established channels in Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Spain, complemented by strong Middle East and West Asian pull from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait. He highlights that weather-induced harvest delays could make it challenging to meet Europe's Easter demand peak this season, but opportunities arise from Southern Europe's own setbacks: "Changing weather patterns in Southern Europe could delay the early Italian harvest, traditionally starting late May or mid-June, providing an extended window for Indian exporters through the end of April. Secondly, uncertainty around the shelf-life of stored European stocks further extends India's export window."
"Sanghar Exports employs in-house agronomists and an agritech platform leveraging satellite-based remote sensing for farm management. The company has invested in developing special round hybrid white onion varieties using imported seeds, applying modern agricultural practices to ensure consistent high-quality offerings," Danish mentions. Looking ahead, he anticipates steady momentum as main crop volumes materialize. "We expect activity to build through the coming weeks as the main crop arrives. Our priority is staying disciplined on specification and execution, not chasing volume."
For more information:
Danish Shah
Sanghar Exports
Tel: +91 9820022250
Email: [email protected]
