In the morning of 22 June, the Department of the Agricultural Market held an onion production and marketing event in Weifang, in cooperation with the Economic Information Department, the Shandong Agriculture Department and the China Agri-Product Marketing Association. A purchasing order of 8,730 tons was signed during the event. Usually, there are only 100 tons purchased every day, so this deal alleviates the difficulties at the Shandong onion market.
Liu Xuemin, head of the Shandong Department of the Agricultural Market and the Economic Information Department, explains that Shandong is the second largest production area for onions in China. It is estimated that it will have a production area of 33,500 hectares (335,000 mu) in 2017, expanding 4% by 1,340 hectares (13,400 mu) since last year. The total production volume is 1,133 million tons. This is an increase of 4.6% compared to last year, growing by 50,000 tons. However, this growth in production volume brings about a decrease in price, Liu Xuemin says. The current price is 0.10-0.15 yuan/500g. Last year in the same period, it was 0.20 yuan/500g. This is a drop of 57%.Liu Xuemin explains that the price drops because of the market supply. Another reason is that the export has decreased. "In May, our export volume was 261,000 tons. This is a drop of 6.4% compared to the same period last year. The export value is 330 million dollars, a drop of 1.5%. Onions are one of the main export products of Shandong. We mainly export to Korea and South-East Asia, but from May to July, Korean onions enter the market, which means that we get less orders, which influences the onion export."
Source: iQilu