The onion harvest in Shandong and Henan usually ends in mid-June, but this year it will continue until the end of the month, reports Portal Potatoes News. In the current season, the total plantation area of red onion has increased, while that of yellow onion has decreased. One exporter from Shandong province recently spoke about conditions in onion production areas and the export market.
“The domestic onion market is oversaturated as deliveries from different production areas arrive at the same time. The size and quality of onions are varied. The market is lively. The current purchase price of an 8 cm onion is about 0,75-0,80 yuan [0,11-0,12 USD] per 0,5 kg, the purchase price of red onion is 0,35-0,40 yuan [0,05. 0,06-0,5 USD] per XNUMX kg.
“The harvest in Gansu should end at the end of June. This bow will create serious competition for products coming from storage. In addition, the total plantation area of yellow onion, which is the main product for the export market, has slightly decreased. Although some traders are optimistic about the market conditions for yellow onions, high shipping fees create a major barrier to onion exports and this makes traders reluctant to buy,” the onion exporter explained.
The current price for peeled onions from Qingdao is around $650/tonne, much lower than a few months ago. “The low price of onions improves their competitive position in the market, and since onion exports have been suspended for about a year, we have had quite a few inquiries from overseas customers over the past few weeks,” the onion exporter said.
“The cost of yellow onions is quite low, and the shipping cost has been increasing since last year, so many onion exporters have stopped exporting onions. “We were still shipping a small amount of peeled onions to England and other European markets, but that also stopped because shipping costs just got too high,” the onion exporter said. “The current shipping cost from Qingdao to Europe is 8-500 per container. While transport costs are falling, they are still too high to make exports profitable.”