The abnormal cold across Uzbekistan has led to the damage of an enormous part of the onion stocks. The damage is to be compensated by import, EastFruit analysts report adding that onion losses reduced their already small supply on the market.
However, there is no talk about exports now, which served as a reason for the sharp increase in onion prices in December 2022. Officially, not a single tonne of onions was exported from 1 to 15 January 2023 because domestic onion prices in Uzbekistan are already too high. Moreover, Uzbekistan became a net importer of onions by mid-January 2023 since the advent of the new year. According to preliminary estimates, over 3,000, tonnes of onions were imported during this period, mostly from Kazakhstan.
At the same time, neighboring Kazakhstan has considered imposing restrictions on onion exports. The country's Ministry of Agriculture and local administrations have been instructed to analyze the actual onion stocks needed to fully meet the local demand and monitor prices.
'If the analysis shows a risk of onion shortage during the off-season, measures will be taken in advance to protect the domestic market', the press service of the government department has reported.
A quite predictable consequence of any restrictions on the export of onions from Kazakhstan will be a sharp increase in their prices in Uzbekistan, but it is still difficult to foresee the exact increase. However, the shortage of onions in the domestic market of the country is a rather rare phenomenon.
Even if Kazakhstan does not introduce such restrictions soon, EastFruit experts believe onion prices in Uzbekistan will keep growing in the coming months, although maybe not so fast. Several factors will contribute to this.
Firstly, the reduction of onion stocks in Uzbekistan in the context of their already small supply on the market, while there is still a lot of time before the new crop of winter onions becomes available in the Uzbek market – about 2-2.5 months.
Secondly, the effect the cold weather had on the new crop of winter onions in the southernmost regions of Uzbekistan where they first come to the market, is still unclear. It is possible that the early winter onions also suffered.
Thirdly, one cannot discount the possible reduction of onion stocks in Kazakhstan as well, since the same abnormally low temperatures were observed there, too. This will at least make onion prices grow.
Finally, there is still a big demand for onions from Pakistani importers, which in turn supports high onion prices in the domestic market of Uzbekistan, the report says.
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