By mid-January, the stock of onions stored at room temperature in the hands of producers in Spain "is very limited" and, of this stock, "the amount of quality onions to be packaged in nets or supermarket bags is minimal," says Fermín Utrilla, from Biodiversa.
"As for the prices paid to producers, in Albacete, growers are receiving 0.50-0.55 €/kg for onions from direct sowing with calibers 50-90 mm, and in Ciudad Real, where the calibers are larger because they deal with transplant onions, the prices at origin amount to 0.60-0.65 €/kg."
"The quality of the stock isn't the best due to rotting problems, but the industry is buying poor quality batches for about 0.25-0.35 €/kg or more.
"Given this situation, the stock of onions stored in cold rooms, which is hard to estimate, as many rooms that were intended for garlic were not filled due to poor quality issues and were filled with onions instead, will have to used early, that is, in early February. Therefore, I predict that, by early April, there will be no onions left in storage."
"The demand remains stable and prices will rise after the onions in cold storage are used," says Fermín. "Meanwhile, the export of large calibers to Germany is good." At this point, it is worth recalling the importance of Germany for Spanish onion exports. According to data from the Department of Customs and Special Taxes, processed and shared by FEPEX, the German market was the destination of more than 43% of the onions shipped to the EU-27 between January and September 2023.
"Another factor generating uncertainty is the situation in the Netherlands, with serious quality problems due to basal rot caused by Fusarium, and the closure of the Suez Canal making matters worse and causing further price increases for the batches sent to Asian destinations."
"Peruvian and Egyptian onions will start to arrive in April, but the situation of the Suez and Panama canals is resulting in greater uncertainty regarding the volumes and prices," he says. "Lastly, Spain is not a big market for New Zealand onions, but this origin is also subject to the uncertainty caused by the situation in the Suez Canal."
"Given all this, the second part of the stored onion campaign and the start of the new onion season promise to be interesting."
For more information:
Fermín Utrilla
Biodiversa
[email protected]