As we look forward to the Southern Hemisphere onion season, many will be hoping for more favourable one than last year when the European looked promising then failed to give the returns expected due to bigger stores of onions, this was compounded by the dispute in the Middle East which led to vessels being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa which saw shipping times increase to around 60 days and also increased the cost of shipping.
Sam Vasala from Sai World, who supplies onions from Tasmania recently visited Fruit Attraction in Spain, he said that Spain had a good crop and prices are low at around 22 cents per Kg, where they would normally at 50 cents per Kg, "These prices are so low that Spain won't import from Southern Hemisphere countries such a Australia and New Zealand. The Netherlands' volumes are unpredictable as they always seem to pull onions out of the hat year-round."
"The supply to western Africa always plays a big part in the markets. Holland needs to ship 600 containers a week to west African countries to keep prices up."
Sam thinks it will be a difficult European market this season for various reasons: "Increased shipping costs plus more delays and congestion will mean that the already extended shipping time of 60 days could increase to 60-70 days. This is not a problem quality-wise for Southern Hemisphere onions, but this season again, freight rates will be high as vessels will have to go around the Cape of Good Hope."
The Tasmanian season looks to be running late as there has been no heat yet through the spring, but in the long run this could be a good thing as it will mean they avoid the unpredictable early season exports. Mainland Australia will have a good crop, but need to export to avoid the local market being flooded.
New Varieties
"We are trialling three new varieties in Tasmania, one of which is the Calypso sweet red onion which was bred in England by Bedfordshire Growers. We hope that the trial will be successful and we can supply the Calypso into the UK to compliment the UK production and eventually supply the supermarkets year-round. We are also trialling a pink sweet onion from Spain, Figueras, with the intention of supplying the Spanish market in the off-season."
Tariff-free UK market
"The main, brown onion market will be a tough one this season, but we hope that with a later start, around three weeks, good quality and bigger sizes we will see good demand from the UK. This is a good market for Australian onions as it is tariff-free and they like the bigger sizes. We expect harvest in Tasmania to start in late January. Japan and Taiwan are also keen on our bigger onions.
"Overall, Asia has become a tricky market due to bigger volumes from China, and for us other Asian markets are supplied on an ad hoc basis. The Netherland have also lost a lot of the Asian markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to Chinese onions."
For more information:
Sam Vasala
Sai World Pty Ltd
Tel: +61 (07) 5641 2217
Mob: +61470406579
Email: [email protected]
www.saiworld.com.au