Taking into account the rather sharp cold snap and forecasted rains, Moldovan farmers are trying to complete the onion harvest as soon as possible. According to them, due to rains in spring and summer and issues with the protection of crops, a large share of harvested onions is of low quality. Realizing that if stored, the losses of such onions will be high, many vegetable growers consider it a good option to sell potentially problematic onions immediately after harvesting. As a result of the large supply of onions of low and average quality, their prices have started to slightly decrease last week – on average, to 3.5 MDL/kg ($0.2/kg). However, this is still higher than the average price level at the beginning of the last decade of September last year ($0.18/kg).
Given that, according to expert estimates, onion sowing for the 2021 harvest decreased by about 35-40% compared to last year, the participants in the fruit and vegetable market foresee a gradual increase in prices as low-quality onions for current consumption will run out by the end of autumn. In winter, onion prices will almost certainly rise.
The heads of several large vegetable farms agreed with EastFruit`s analysts that there is now a “window of opportunity” for the export of Moldovan onions to the Ukrainian market. A price difference of about $0.06/kg for some Moldovan vegetable growers-traders may be a sufficient motivation to start the supply. To what extent is an open question. In previous years, some Moldovan growers supplied from several hundred to a thousand or more tons of onions to Romania. However, the difference in prices and the supplier’s margin was significantly higher then.
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