Although demand for onions is quite high, this week, the demand is coming under pressure. "Senegal in particular appears to be flooded with onions. There are even rumours from Brazil of Dutch onions - which were left behind in the harbour - having been sent to Senegal. In the coming week, demand for Dutch onions will go down a bit," William Nannes of Beemsterboer expects.
"Because the harvested batches turn out large, there is a surplus in large onions. The smaller sizes are scarcer and more expensive than the large sizes, which is the opposite from what's usual," the purchaser continues. "Traditionally, in this period the packagers are struggling with the grower. Prices go up to 17/17.50 cents, which doesn't mesh well with a bale price of 19/20 cents. A price increase is not impossible, but I doubt whether there is sufficient demand for that at the moment."
"The grower is steadfast at the moment. They just put their onions in the barn, and they have time. Why sell for 15 cents, when four weeks ago he could get the same price. If you go out and buy now, you have to pay a price. The grower has the upper hand, time will tell whether he's right. A seed onion harvest of 1.35 million tonnes is big. While we are easily able to process that in the Netherlands, it remains to be seen, whether there's enough demand for those onions."
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