Onion exports rise 22% in FY22 to $460 million

Exports of fresh onion touched a three-year high in dollar terms during 2021-22 on higher realisations and increased demand from countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal. Shipments in dollar value grew 22 per cent to $460 million in 2021-22 from the previous year’s $378 million, while the volumes were down marginally at 15.37 lakh tonnes.

In rupee terms, the onion shipments were up 21 per cent at ₹3,432 crore during 2021-22 compared to ₹2,826 crore in the previous year.

Bangladesh, the largest buyer of Indian onions scaled up its purchases during the year to 6.58 lakh tonnes, up 19 per cent from the previous year’s 5.52 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the shipments to Bangladesh increased 72 per cent to $174 million over previous year’s $101 million.

Similarly, the exports of fresh bulbs to Sri Lanka grew 12.5 per cent to 1.62 lakh tonnes from the previous year’s 1.44 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the onion exports to Sri Lanka were up 25 per cent at $55.33 million from the previous year’s $44.19 million.

Shipments to Nepal, another large neighbouring buyer went up 48 per cent to 1.67 lakh tonnes during 2021-22, from the previous year’s 1.13 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the shipments to Nepal registered an increase of 69 per cent at $37.48 million from previous year’s $22.22 million.

Onion exports to Malaysia, the second-largest buyer of Indian bulbs fell 14 per cent in volumes to 1.70 lakh tonnes from the previous year’s 1.98 lakh tonnes. However, in value terms, the onion exports were up 6.5 per cent at $65.93 million during 2021-22 from the previous year’s 61.92 million.

UAE, one of the large buyers of Indian onions imported lesser quantity during 2021-22. The onion exports to UAE fell 28 per cent to 1.22 lakh tonnes during 2021-22 from the previous year’s 1.70 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the shipments declined by a tenth to $37.54 million from the previous year’s $41.91 million.

Higher freight costs

Trade sources said the higher freight rates during the year have also contributed to the higher export value of the onions.

Jital Shah, an exporter, attributed the increase in overall value of the shipment to the higher freight rates. “The growth in rupee value terms is due to higher freight rates pushing up the CIF value and also due to the depreciation of rupee against the dollar. The freight rates were up by about three times,” Shah said.

Currently, the demand is okay for Indian onion as shipments are happening across Asia. The harvest has just started in China. Also, with Egypt set to harvest the new crop, Shah said adding that demand from West Asia may get affected, but traditional markets will continue to buy.

Commenting on the decline in shipments to UAE during last year, Shah said, “there was a point when prices had gone up and we were not competitive. In between Pakistan was very competitive till March while India was expensive.”

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