ID :
210072
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 18:55
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/210072
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Indian onions losing overseas markets to China & Pak: Exporters
New Delhi, September 28, 2011 (PPI): Though the government has lifted ban on onion exports, the Indian produce is losing out to its rivals from neighbouring China and Pakistan due to high prices and uncertain policies, according to exporters.
“We could export a meager 4,000-5,000 tons of onions during last week (from September 20, when the ban was lifted, till September 27),” a senior office-bearer of the Mumbai-based Agriculture Export Association said according to Indian media.
Indian onions, which traditionally see great demand from markets in the Gulf, Far East (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) and Sri Lanka, are finding it difficult to compete with produce from China and Pakistan, which are selling at a lower export price, a trade source said.
India is the world’s second-largest onion producer after China.
The Indian government had fixed the minimum export price (MEP) for onions at $475 a ton after lifting a ban on exports on September 20.
The ban was in force for two weeks as a precautionary measure to maintain domestic supply of the bulb and check inflation.
The AEA office-bearer also attributed the un-competitiveness of Indian onions in international markets to the high MEP and “switch on/switch off policy” on exports.
“In the absence of Indian onions (due to the ban from September 9-20 this year), many Singapore traders have contracted with Chinese exporters for a month, leaving no place for Indian produce,” he said.
Onions from China and Pakistan, which are selling at $300 per ton and $325/ton, respectively, in international markets, have rendered the Indian produce uncompetitive, the sources said.
In normal times, the export figure would be as high as 70,000 tons a month, he said.
“Dubai used to be flooded with Indian onions earlier. But today, one can find onion-laden cargoes from six other countries, including those from Pakistan and Iran there,” the AEA official, who is also in the onion export business, said.
Another exporter from Pune echoed similar views. R P Gupta, the Director of the Nasik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), said no increase in off take was immediately visible in onion exports after the ban was lifted.
Sources in agri-cooperative sector revealed that onion exports shrunk by more than half in the first six months this year in comparison to the year-ago period.
India exported around 5.58 lakh tons of onions between April 1 and September 26, the sources said.
Exports of the kitchen staple stood at 9.34 lakh tones during the corresponding period of 2010 and 11.21 lakh tons in 2009, they added.
“We could export a meager 4,000-5,000 tons of onions during last week (from September 20, when the ban was lifted, till September 27),” a senior office-bearer of the Mumbai-based Agriculture Export Association said according to Indian media.
Indian onions, which traditionally see great demand from markets in the Gulf, Far East (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) and Sri Lanka, are finding it difficult to compete with produce from China and Pakistan, which are selling at a lower export price, a trade source said.
India is the world’s second-largest onion producer after China.
The Indian government had fixed the minimum export price (MEP) for onions at $475 a ton after lifting a ban on exports on September 20.
The ban was in force for two weeks as a precautionary measure to maintain domestic supply of the bulb and check inflation.
The AEA office-bearer also attributed the un-competitiveness of Indian onions in international markets to the high MEP and “switch on/switch off policy” on exports.
“In the absence of Indian onions (due to the ban from September 9-20 this year), many Singapore traders have contracted with Chinese exporters for a month, leaving no place for Indian produce,” he said.
Onions from China and Pakistan, which are selling at $300 per ton and $325/ton, respectively, in international markets, have rendered the Indian produce uncompetitive, the sources said.
In normal times, the export figure would be as high as 70,000 tons a month, he said.
“Dubai used to be flooded with Indian onions earlier. But today, one can find onion-laden cargoes from six other countries, including those from Pakistan and Iran there,” the AEA official, who is also in the onion export business, said.
Another exporter from Pune echoed similar views. R P Gupta, the Director of the Nasik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), said no increase in off take was immediately visible in onion exports after the ban was lifted.
Sources in agri-cooperative sector revealed that onion exports shrunk by more than half in the first six months this year in comparison to the year-ago period.
India exported around 5.58 lakh tons of onions between April 1 and September 26, the sources said.
Exports of the kitchen staple stood at 9.34 lakh tones during the corresponding period of 2010 and 11.21 lakh tons in 2009, they added.
