Analysis Onions
First sorters are already working with planting onions
The sales season of 2023 is coming to an end and several sorters have been staring at and even sorting the first planting onions this week. This seems to indicate that the trade for the 2023 harvest is also coming to a close. Meanwhile, the trade in the planting onions still needs to pick up, but there seems to be no lack of interest.
The quality of the 2023 harvest is not even that bad for this time of the year, and recently some really good quality batches were still offered, but all onions are simply too soft. An onion from the new harvest that has already started looks and feels much better. It doesn't matter that more has to be paid for the new harvest. It also doesn't seem likely that there is still a place in the market for the remaining seed onions.
There is also not much trade in the planting onions yet, both at the grower and sales market. This is not surprising, as the large volumes will only be marketed much later in the season. Harvesting has already begun and the first planting onions have been stared at and even sorted this week. However, these are very limited volumes. The contrast is significant; while some sorters will increase the pace of the new harvest next week, others are on vacation and mainly clearing out remnants of the old harvest.
Growers' prices for planting onions
Due to the limited trade in planting onions, it is difficult to determine concrete prices, but inquiries reveal that the real early planting onions are being paid between €20 and €25 per 100 kilograms, with €25 for the very nice batches. However, a lot of this has already been pre-contracted at fixed prices. Moving further into July, prices drop and amounts between €15 and €18 per 100 kilograms are mentioned.
The DCA Benchmark Prices for Packed Onions remains fairly stable for old harvest onions compared to last week. Roughly, the range is between €20 and €25. More is paid for the super quality. The bulk prices for new harvest onions are higher, but are currently difficult to determine concretely. Much depends on the distribution channel and there is always a lot of price difference among the first early planting onions. Currently, the bulk price for the early planting onions is between €40 and €50 per 100 kilograms. It is expected to decrease in the coming weeks as more supply becomes available.
