The average price of onions in Russian stores in May 2023 reached 73,3 rubles. per kilogram, follows from the data of Rosstat in the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System, RBC reports.
In late spring and early summer, onions, like other vegetables, rise in price seasonally (stocks of domestic products are running out, and imported products enter the market). But the mark of 70 rubles per kg was crossed by onion prices for the first time in the entire history of Rosstat observation since at least 2000, follows from the data of the statistical agency analyzed by RBC. In the last ten years, the price of a kilogram of onions in May fluctuated in the range of 30-40 rubles. Even in May 2022, when large-scale disruptions were observed in the supply of imported goods to Russia due to disruption of logistics amid sanctions, the cost of onions was 29% lower than in May of this year (a year ago, the average price was 56,8 rubles / kg).
The rise in price of onions is due to the fact that this year the supply of this vegetable on the world market has decreased due to crop failure in the countries of Central and Central Asia - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, explains Andrey Kazakov, executive director of the National Fruit and Vegetable Union. The crop reduction occurred against the backdrop of an abnormally cold winter, the expert recalls. In early February, the situation with onion prices was already discussed at the Ministry of Agriculture, Vedomosti reported.
Due to severe frosts in January (in Uzbekistan, the temperature dropped to minus 17-23 degrees at night), vegetables that were stored in unheated warehouses deteriorated. The situation turned out to be so acute that in the spring the authorities of these countries imposed a ban on the export of onions, including to Russia, until they replenish their stocks, reminds Kazakov. By spring, onion stocks in domestic vegetable stores had declined, and since there were no supplies from Asian countries, the price went up, RBC's interlocutor adds.
Uzbekistan, along with Egypt, China and Turkey, is one of the key countries supplying onions to Russia, the Association of Producers and Suppliers of Food Products (Rusprodsoyuz) reported earlier. From January to November 2022, these countries received 46,6 thousand tons, 22,4 thousand tons, 20,4 thousand tons and 17 thousand tons, respectively. For comparison, the harvest of onions in Russia in 2022, according to Rosstat, amounted to 1,6 million tons (1,54 million tons a year earlier).
The Fruit and Vegetable Union hopes that the situation will level off and the restrictions will be lifted, and they also remind that Russia will soon have its own onion crop. “The supply of onions will increase, and the price will go down sharply,” says Kazakov. There are no problems with the harvest of onions in Russia, according to the expert, but there is a shortage of storage facilities that allow you to store products in the autumn-winter period. “If we have new vegetable stores, we will be able to solve the problem of preserving the harvest,” Kazakov sums up.
The Magnit retail chain told RBC that against the backdrop of restrictions on the export of onions from the countries of Central and Central Asia, they began to supply Russian onions to their stores earlier - since the beginning of June. “Now the share of domestic onions on the shelf is already 85%. The production volumes are sufficient to cover consumer demand,” Magnit added.