Demand for Egyptian onions is at a solid price right now, according to one Egyptian exporter. Although prices are slightly down at the moment, there is a chance they’ll increase in the next few weeks. There’ll be a lot of potential for onion exporters from Egypt to reach new markets in both Asia and South America this year.
The Egyptian red onion season has started, although it’ll be a few more weeks until the produce is ready for export, says Fruit Kingdom CEO Amr Kadah: “The season for golden and yellow onions started in March. As demand has grown over time, so has production in Egypt for these onions. For the red onions, the season began early this week. These onions will be dry and ready for standard specifications in the middle of May.”
Despite demand being higher than last year, prices are actually slightly lower at the moment. However, this could change in the next few weeks, Kadah explains. “Currently the main challenges are both high shipping costs and the difficulty of working in the presence of Covid-19. That said, I still believe we will produce more onions with better quality this year. Last year, the demand was very high compared to previous seasons, especially in the European markets. This year we expect to trade even more. At the moment prices are lower than last year, but we will have more clarity on the price situation around the middle of May, when the red onions are good to go.”
It will be an exciting season for Egyptian onion exporters, as several new markets will be open to them this year: “Onions occupy the third place in Egypt's agricultural exports after citrus and potatoes. We exported more than 350 thousand tons of onion in 2020; this year we are expecting to have an increase in the demand due to the opening of new markets in Asia and South America. The Egyptian red onion is in high market demand in the Arab Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. There is also a big increase in the trading of yellow onions to European countries.” Kadah concludes.
For more information:
Amr Kadah
Fruit Kingdom for Export Egypt
Tel: +20 100 928 8377
Email: [email protected]