The retail price of onions in the Wanbang Market showed an overall increasing trend last week. The average price last week was 1.2 yuan [0.17 USD] per kg, while the average price two weeks ago was 1.1 yuan [0.16 USD] per kg, which is an increase of 9.09% in one week. The main onion production areas are in Gansu. Onions from Gansu entered the market around one month ago at 1.4 yuan [0.20 USD] per kg. Additional onion supply comes from local, refrigerated storage, but they do not compare to Gansu onions when it comes to flavor or color. Their price is therefore lower, around 1 yuan [0.15 USD] per kg.
The local volume of onions this year is larger than it was last year. Traders who purchased onions last year to store them in refrigerated warehouses mostly suffered losses. They thought the onion market conditions this year would be great, and they bought large volumes of onions for storage. Now, however, with the local onions in storage for close to three months, the influence of Gansu onions becomes clear. Only small volumes of local onions have left the refrigerated warehouses. Traders are waiting for prices to increase before they sell their stock.
This is still the season of fruit, and vegetables are only secondary, which creates poor conditions for onions in refrigerated storage. The price of onions has recently been rather weak. Research from various institutes suggests that the demand for onions is growing and the weak price of onions may improve.
