Overview of the 2019 Egyptian Onion Season and Outlook for 2020

Published 2020년 1월 23일

Despite a rocky year, export of Egyptian onions increased by 45%. Export destinations have been diversified last year, and Egypt seeks to increase its production and exports even more in 2020.

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, 2019 witnessed an increase in the export of onions from Egypt by nearly 45% compared to 2018. As of November 27th, the onion export recorded 550K tons, compared to 310K tons last year. Saudi Arabia was the largest importer of the crop, but this season Egypt relied on new markets such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other Asian countries as well, which significantly raised exports.

Harvest Season of Egyptian Onions

Nicknamed the “gold crop” by locals, Egyptian onions are planted between September and November every year and are grown all throughout the country. The northern regions are able to plant and harvest their onions the earliest in the year, followed by southern Egypt. Most onions are cultivated using nursery plantations. The harvest starts around March/April and is often performed by seasonal laborers. Egypt is the 3rd largest onion producer in the world, producing more than 2.3 million tons per year.

Difficult Start of Season: Import Ban by Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the largest market for Egyptian onions, accounting for approximately 60% of total onion exports. However, the 2019 season started off with disturbing news for onion exporters: the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture in Saudi Arabia imposed a temporary ban on importing onion goods from Egypt. The reason for this ban was explained as a high rate of pesticide residues found in the onion exports.

The ban was lifted in June 2019 after it was proven that pesticide residues were significantly lowered, but had already done damage to Egyptian onion exports. The Saudi market was already fully saturated with onions from different sources, such as India and Bangladesh, and Egyptian onions faced a significant price decrease as a result. Egyptian onions were sold for USD 100 per ton, a price that is considered too low to be profitable by many exporters and farmers.

Increasing Demand from New Buyer Regions

In the last half of 2019, things started to look up for Egyptian exporters. Bad onion crops in Europe raised demand from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Furthermore, as a result of a large onion shortage in East Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia asked Egypt to increase its exports of onions. The resulting high demand for onions in the Saudi Arabian market led to high prices offered for Egyptian onions., increasing the domestic wholesale price up to USD 400 per ton.

To alleviate the onion shortage, India also started importing Egyptian onions in late 2019. Originally, only 6K tons were imported, but the high domestic demand for onions increased this number quickly. In total, around 34K tons of onions from Egypt and Turkey were imported. The majority of onions exported to India were red onions, but many exporters are interested in exporting golden onions in 2020 as well.

Outlook for 2020

With the domestic onion supply finally able to meet some demand, the Indian market is calming down and is reducing imports from Egypt and Turkey. Many Egyptian buyers, however, aim to export more to the Indian market after experiencing high demand and high prices in late 2019. The Indian market always has a high demand for onions, but some sources reported that Egyptian and Turkish onions were not so well received. Indian onions are very pungent and strong, whereas Egyptian onions are a lot softer in taste, more well-suited to the European market.