Onion exporters and packers cannot complain right now, "There are a great deal of onions going out. Everyone has plenty of work and has collected a good deal of supply, the mood is good. It will remain busy in December as well," expects Piet van Liere from onion sorter and packaging station Gebr. van Liere in Dronten, The Netherlands. "Africa is the driving force behind the sales and Brazil is knocking gently on the door. Sales are low only in Europe because the European destinations don't have the money for the current prices."
Currently the price is around 23/24 cents, "The prices are quite stable. Red onion sales are also doing well. We can now push on ahead," says the packer. Although he is anxious to see how the season will develop in terms of quality, "We don't have the color and quality that we had last year. We have found root rot here and there. The onions were later this year so the root rot will appear later. We anxiously await to see what kind of quality we will have."
Response from a Belgian onion trader:
In recent weeks in Belgium the sales of onions have slowed, in part due to the threat of terrorism. Markets were cancelled, schools were closed and border crossings were also closed," says a Belgian onion trader. "Now sales have to pick-up again. The onion price is currently stable, although I do expect some pressure on the price due to the many lower quality onions. A lot of onions were left in the rain after the harvest for quite some time. More and more onions are being grown in Belgium, although exact numbers are not yet known. Will our neighbours keep this in mind?"
