Ukraine may see a significant reduction in onion supply next spring, creating the preconditions for a shortage and another round of price increases, EastFruit reports.
According to Pavlo Bulgakov, an international consultant in fruit and vegetable storage, one of the key reasons is a sharp reduction in onion acreage compared with last season.
He noted in a column for AgroTimes that some large farms have completely abandoned onion production this year. In particular, companies that stored up to 17,000 tonnes of onions last season did not grow the crop at all this year. At the same time, only a limited number of new producers have entered the market.
The situation has also been aggravated by lower yields. While last season was a record one, average yields this year have declined by around 20–30 tonnes per hectare. In southern Ukraine, onion crops were affected by dust storms, while in central and western regions, late frosts and prolonged rains caused additional damage.
Prices are already significantly higher than last year. During the harvest period last season, onions were sold at UAH 2–2.5/kg, while this year prices below UAH 10/kg are practically absent.
In southern regions, prices rose from UAH 8/kg to UAH 10–11/kg and recently reached as high as UAH 14/kg. In western Ukraine, wholesale prices climbed to UAH 18–20/kg. A slight decline is now being observed there due to active sales directly from the field.
Storage remains another major risk factor for the spring market. Due to systematic Russian attacks on storage infrastructure, part of the onion crop may not reach storage facilities. At the same time, export demand is increasing, with Ukrainian onions, potatoes and other vegetables actively shipped to Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.
As a result, the combination of reduced production, lower yields, storage challenges and active exports may leave Ukraine with a significantly smaller domestic onion supply in spring compared with last year.
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