India's red onion exports are moving steadily through winter peaks, says Cyril Chakranarayan of Olive Import Export, an Indian fresh produce exporter. "Dubai takes the lion's share from Nashik with up to 60 containers flowing daily at peak for repacking and re-export to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain."
According to Cyril, other Gulf countries offer stronger pricing than Dubai itself. "However, since Dubai serves as the main hub with easy payment terms and flexible volumes, these markets prefer importing through Dubai rather than straight from India, with only a small portion exported directly," he notes.
© Olive Import and Export
Quality and sizes are strong now, but red onions are presenting handling challenges after recent rains. Cyril explains, "Their high moisture content cuts shelf life to 15-20 days while causing a 500 kg to 1 tonne weight loss per container on 7-day Dubai trips. While we load 29 tonnes in Mumbai, 28-28.5 tonnes arrive there. Farm prices hold at USD 0.14-0.18 per kg with export realizations at USD 0.20-0.22 per kg, showing a recovery from last year's export bans that tanked domestic markets."
Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other Asian countries continue to take shorter transit loads, Cyril highlights. "Red onion flows will stay steady through February end, before quality dips and summer varieties with 7-8 month shelf life take over for bigger Gulf demand.
© Olive Import and Export
Nashik's multiple mandis are keeping volumes stable across domestic and export markets, with no supply shortages observed at the moment, Cyril says. "With Bangladesh's onion imports reopened, road trade simply flips the goods at Benapole border. Volumes are limited to 50 trucks daily, so no major price spikes are anticipated like when they chase 45mm+ sizes," he adds.
Looking ahead, Cyril points to Nashik's cloudy weather slowing sun-drying needed to match export specs for red onions post-rains. "Dull skies might bring drizzle and lift prices marginally by slowing the drying process, but no firm rain forecast means stability ahead. Gulf re-exports via Dubai look good to keep things smooth," he concludes.
For more information:
Cyril Chakranarayan
Olive Import Export
Tel: +91 83 29 142 948
Email: [email protected]
www.oliveimportexport.com
