Consequences of floods: Pakistan scrambles to buy Uzbek onions in bulk
Since August of this year, Pakistan has scrambled to import onions from Uzbekistan due to the massive loss of local crops during the recent catastrophic floods. This is reported by EastFruit.
In the first twenty days of October, the volume of onion shipments from Uzbekistan to Pakistan increased several times compared to August and September.
The regions in the west and south of the country were the most affected by them, rainfall was 400% more than the average of the last 30 years.
Pakistan has started actively stocking up on staple foods, including onions, which have an important place in the traditional cuisine of the people living in the country.
From the beginning of January to the end of July 2022, almost no export of onions from Uzbekistan to Pakistan was carried out.
But the floods changed the trade, and since August of this year, Pakistan began to actively import these products from Uzbekistan.
According to official statistics, from the beginning of August to the current date of 2022, the export of onions from Uzbekistan to Pakistan:
- August — 2.3 thousand tons,
- September — 2.9 thousand tons
- October (until the 20th) — 9.7 thousand tons.
According to the data, in the first twenty days of October 2022, the volume of onion shipments from Uzbekistan to Pakistan was at least 3.3 times and 1.8 times higher than in August and September.
Pakistan has been the main buyer of Uzbek onions in the last three months, its share in the total export of these products from Uzbekistan: was 70 percent in August, 79 percent in September, and 92 percent in October.
