Comments
Onion prices increased this week after a correction last week following demand from West Asia. Poor monsoon coverage in growing areas of Maharashtra also contributed to the rising trend.
“Demand from West Asia has picked up. This is the primary reason for the rise in prices this week,” said Mr Rupesh Jaju, Director of Nashik-based United Pacific Agro Pvt Ltd that exports onions.
“Lankan buyers too were busy since the island nation could slap duty on Indian onion next week,” said Mr Madan Prakash, Director of Chennai-based Rajathi Group of Companies that exports agricultural produce. Sri Lanka, usually, imposes import duty on Indian onions around July for a brief period to provide support to local produce. Quality onions commanded Rs 650-800 a quintal, while fair average quality fetched Rs 500-600 a quintal. Arrivals since Wednesday were 25,500 tonnes in Maharashtra with Ahmednagar accounting for 40 per cent of them.
In Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee yard, Asia’s largest onion market, the modal price or the rate at which most trade took place was Rs 525 against Rs 500 last week. “Shortage of rain has led to fears that the kharif crop could be delayed. This is likely to drive up prices further,” said Mr Jaju. “Malaysia could also enter Indian market next week for purchase,” said Mr Prakash. According to analysts, onion prices could rule firm this year.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.