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Onion Market Update Mar. 7, 2023
By John Harris
I am just back from the annual D.C. Fly-in with the National Onion Association (NOA). We were there representing the industry on a number of issues that we address each year. We meet with the FDA, EPA, several USDA branches, and a slew of house and senate members and their aides. The issues we discuss are vital to the long-term success of our growers in this industry. I find it very rewarding to go out each year and be part of the team that keeps our agenda in front of lawmakers that control so much of how our industry is governed in Washington.
Regarding the market, we came out of a slow February with things feeling like they are on the upswing as we are now into March. Daily shipments would confirm movement is good, as last Thursday and Friday we had nearly 1000 truckloads of product shipped. Mexican imports are also ramping up with nearly 600 loads crossing last week. Typically, when shipments are this high, the market volatility is also high, which holds true currently. The market in Mexico has had some significant fluctuations over the last several weeks which has caused Mexican imports to be an almost day-to-day market.
The storage crop market has held steady but the market remains lower than our expectations were back in the fall of 2022. There is hope that going into the end of March and April, we’ll see a market rise, but at this point, I’m on the fence about that becoming a reality. Canada still has a lot of onions left for the season that should probably ship into June, Mexico has a lot of onions yet to come, Texas is getting ready to start production in the coming weeks and the Georgia crop should be ready to start shipping by the 1st of April, so I don’t see a significant uptick in prices heading into April.
Yellows – The Mexican import has been relatively tight overall, with good availability of larger sizes. The domestic market on mediums and jumbos has had good availability with a tight supply of colossal and supers.
Whites – The Mexican market has seen big fluctuations in prices over the last several weeks being dictated largely by the market in Mexico. Currently, availability is high with deals to be made. The domestic market has remained steady with decent supplies and average quality out of the west.
Reds – The Mexican market for reds has also been pretty volatile over the last several weeks with significant market fluctuations due to the local markets in Mexico. Currently, supplies are good and prices have come down in the last week. Domestically, quality is sound overall and the availability has been high making the market somewhat depressed. I don’t see any big changes in the next month that will change this current trend for the storage market.
Editors Note: John Harris is the president and founder of Paradigm Fresh and Colorado Cold Connect in Fort Morgan, Colorado. He can be reached at John@paradigmfresh.com.
