The New Zealand onion harvest at Balle Bros started as planned in November with the early varieties for the domestic market and to The Pacific Islands from December onwards.
"We also exported some of the early varieties to Taiwan as sizes were larger in these crops," said Simon Vale from the company. "From early January we will start undercutting and field curing the first of the main storage crops. Harvest should start mid-January, and we expect the first exports to Europe to start in week 5. The main export crop is looking average in size, and overall good quality. We will have a range of sizes to suit our many export markets."
Harvesting will continue through to the end of March if the weather plays its part.
"As always we were optimistic that yields would again be very good this year, however it has been drier than expected which will mean yields will be more normal in 2025 and close to the 5-year average."
Global markets
"There is always variation in the global markets. Europe had a large harvest in 2024, but there is a question mark about how long their onions will keep. Pricing discussions for the season are ongoing with many customers still assessing their storage stocks. What is important to know is that the free trade agreement between the EU and NZ has removed the 9.6% import duty that was in place. This will make NZ onions more attractive to importers. Asian markets are looking better for us, especially Taiwan and Indonesia where we expect demand and pricing to be better than last year.
"Shipping to Europe continues to be affected by the disruption through the Suez Canal with longer transit times, but Asian shipping is in a better position. It will be interesting to see how the new routings ex New Zealand will proceed after the dissolution of the 2M alliance between Maersk and MSC and their new individual offerings."
For more information:
Simon Vale
Balle Bros. Exports Ltd.
Tel: + 64 9 2370898
Email: [email protected]
www.ballebros.co.nz