The wholesale prices for yellow onions of the 2022 harvest in the markets of Chisinau increased by 0.5-1 MDL/kg in the first half of this week up to an average of 15 MDL/kg ($0.83/kg). The rise in the price of onions in the Moldovan market is a normal seasonal phenomenon in April. It is surprising that in the context of the pan-European “onion crisis”, the next round of price increases for onions in Moldova started only now, and not in the first days of the month – as, for example, in Ukraine, Georgia and some other countries monitored by EastFruit.
Moreover, wholesale prices for onions in Moldova have been decreasing since mid-March (having previously reached a historical maximum – of 17 MDL/kg, $0.91/kg). EastFruit analysts believe that the reduction in the price of onions in the second half of the month was caused by three main factors. Firstly, the majority of Moldovan consumers were not ready psychologically to pay such a high price for a conventional vegetable they eat daily. Secondly, both wholesalers and small buyers were not ready to pay so much for low-quality goods that remained in the warehouses of local agricultural producers. Thirdly, Egyptian onions of low quality and in small volumes became available on the Moldovan market in March, but they worked as a factor of pressure on the prices.
However, according to market operators, the last leftover stocks of Moldovan onions were sold last week. Now the local market is totally dependent on onion imports until at least the beginning of June (since the harvesting of local winter onions will begin no earlier than the third decade of May). In this situation, the price of imported onions will increase for sure.
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