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Tjerk Nagel, Konaxx Onions:

"An unhealthy sentiment has crept into the onion trade"

The Dutch onion export market is not very lively at present. "We're simply too expensive. An unhealthy sentiment has crept into that trade. It's been bothersome this whole year, and our sector is staring itself blind against it," says Tjerk Nagel of Konaxx Onions.

"Current prices aren't realistic. I think, to open doors again, they should be between €0.20 and €0.25. But the market is unhealthy and will take time to recover. The onions also have minimal quality across the board. The erratic growing season did them no good. There are plenty of onions that need to be sold quickly due to quality and sprouting. You can buy them for €0.28 to €0.30."

"Last year's high prices were realistic, and the onion sector performed well. We maintained it longer than most thought possible. However, considering past years, you get such an expensive year only once in every five. Greed has taken over now, and everyone's fixated on that €0.50. I foresee difficult weeks ahead for the onion trade. Those without a position will struggle to get good onions, and those with one have very pricey onions. Either way, these are challenging times," says the exporter.

"Also, many onions were shipped to Belgium and Germany in the pre-season. Those were deducted from the Dutch harvest, and we're now paying the price. Plenty of imported onions will arrive soon, too, as everyone has reacted to the expensive onion market. I think that will put a stop to this season's race. There are far more onions than everyone thinks and more than we can sell."

"That's making exports very sluggish, except for regular customers, but they don't make the market. The problem, I think, is that we're too focused on cherry-picking instead of systematically building a healthy position. After all, with good onions, there are good returns to be made by traders and growers," Tjerk concludes.

For more information:
Tjerk Nagel
Konaxx Onions
32 Kadal
9079 KW, Sint Jacobiparochie, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0) 518 491 255
[email protected]
www.konaxx.nl

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