Onions in Poland - "winter onions" delayed, spring onions also.

2021-06-16 10:36

Stocks of 'old' onions are running out and the quality of what's left in stores is getting poorer. Imports from Holland are also limited this year, as stocks of nice onions there are minimal and prices have been rising in recent weeks. Poland has been importing mainly the cheapest onions for processing.

However, the vegetation of 'winter' and spring onions is considerably delayed this season due to the cold weather in April and May. In addition, growers are reporting major pest problems (mildew). As far as the vegetation of onions from sowing is concerned, there are also reports of problems. It looks poor, especially on poorer-quality soils.

How does this translate into the realities of the wholesale onion market? Onion prices from the 2020 harvest have been rising in the Polish wholesale market since the end of April, but this is not a very dynamic increase. To date, it is +50 per cent, and it must be remembered that the upward trend started from a very low level, 0.80 PLN/kg on average, as for April. Currently, selling prices in the large wholesalers are most often 1.00-1.40 PLN/kg, in the small ones up to 2.50 PLN/kg.

Young winter onions peeled in white are priced at 3.50-5.00 PLN/kg in the small wholesale trade, but there are not many of them available at the moment. Unpeeled onions are priced at 2.50 zlotys per kilo. Demand for 'old' onions remains fairly limited, and the reason for this is quality problems. We can expect more interest in early onions with each passing week. The gap in supply will grow. This means that the start of the new marketing season is likely to be marked by relatively high onion prices this year.

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