"Netherlands: "Onion market has me concerned"

According to Daan Dees of Terra Point in Breskens, The Netherlands, the onion market isn't doing very well at the moment. "The demand from our export destinations is very limited and the market is completely stuck when it comes to supply. Growers look outside and see that some rainfall could come, look at the good potato prices and decide to wait a bit before they sell. However, this is not in line with the limited export."

"What concerns me the most is that the batches that are on offer are having increasingly more issues with quality. If there is something we should aim for this year, it is quality. These are, quite often, batches that we had difficulties getting off the land and they aren't doing us any favours in our export markets," explains Daan. He estimates that the percentage of onions in the area that have been dug up but are still waiting to come off the land, are at 7-10%. "The percentage of onions that have yet to be dug up are still much higher in the north of the country.

Those onions have often been exposed to rain for a long time. I do not know what will become of these."

"The point is that an African buyer concern himself with batches in the Netherlands that still need to be dug up. They do not look to the Netherlands, but to their own outlets. I do not know how the market will develop in the coming weeks. The bale price is currently at about 15.50 euro. The United Kingdom is still very present in the market, but large volumes are not being shipped to countries like the Ivory Coast and Senegal. Russia still needs to come to market, but it is expected that this will still take a while." concludes Daan

For more information:
Terrapoint
Daan Dees
Deltahoek 106
4511 PA Breskens
[email protected]
www.terrapoint.nl