Currently, brown and white onions earn over R92 (4.7 euros) per 10kg at the municipal markets and red onions almost double that: R195 (10 euros) per 10kg. In his weekly market analysis, agricultural economist Dr Johnny van der Merwe notes a very strong correlation between the price movement of this season and that of 2019, albeit 46% higher prices this season.
Disruptions to electricity supply and increased costs all along the value chain hit South Africa's onion and potato yields hard, but if the 2019 analogy holds, Dr Van der Merwe says, consumers can expect some succour over coming months.
"Assuming we continue to follow the trend set in 2019 we can expect prices to stay on this high level over the next 3 weeks and then possibly start to decrease. We might see slightly better prices in October again but the general trend is expected to be lower from here on out."
Daily figures on onion sales released by Potatoes South Africa show that less than 22% of the available 7kg bags of onions were sold yesterday on the markets at an average price of R70 (3.6 euros) per bag. The week prior saw supply lower by more than 100,000 bags (10kg) and a slightly higher price.
Tomato prices decreased by 31% over the past week to an average of R7.16 per kilogram as volumes increased by17%. "It is mostly a shortage on the demand side," says a tomato trader. "The third week of June is always a difficult time. Next week, volume should reduce again, strengthening prices."
Potato affordability has improved to around the R50 (2.6 euro) mark per 10kg. Dr Van der Merwe looks at historical trends to posit that it will remain at that level until the end of August, before reaching a peak in October at around the R90 (4.7 euro) mark,