Uzbekistan could enter TOP-5 largest onion exporters

According to EastFruit analysts, by the end of the 2023/24 season, Uzbekistan is quite capable of breaking into the top five largest exporters of fresh onions in the world.

Based on the results of previous seasons, Uzbekistan was consistently among the top ten main onion exporters, but the current season was marked by bans on onion exports from many countries of the world. In particular, Egypt, which is usually one of the top five largest exporters, introduced a ban on onion exports. Türkiye made a similar decision, although it was later reversed.

At the same time, in Uzbekistan, as in many other countries in the region, record area and production volume of onion were recorded. As a result, onion prices in Uzbekistan in January 2024 were 40% lower than during harvest, which guaranteed losses for traders who bought to resell after storage.

However, this does not mean that onions are not being sold. On the contrary, traders try to minimize losses, so they look for buyers more actively than usual and are searching well beyond traditional markets. As a result, already in January 2024, the wholesale markets of Poland were literally overwhelmed with onions from Uzbekistan. In addition, the first export shipments of onions from the new harvest in the southern regions of Uzbekistan will begin at the end of March 2024. The new onion harvest may also turn out to be quite large.

According to EastFruit analysts, onion exports from Uzbekistan in the current season may significantly exceed 300 thousand tons, which will become a new export record. This will allow Uzbekistan to get ahead of Poland, Afghanistan, Spain, Egypt and, possibly, the United States in terms of onion exports and enter the top 5 largest global exporters.

All information taken from www.kun.uz