Sellers seek gov't consent to import onions as holidays approach

With an ongoing shortage of onions that may continue until at least early 2013, wholesale and retail vegetable sellers are seeking the government's go-ahead to import as much as 7,500 metric tons of red onions. "We do not want a repeat of a situation three years ago when onion prices [shot] up to more than P150 per kilo at a time when Christmas was nearing. And that went on well after the holiday season," said Vegetable Importers and Exporters Association (VIEVA) president Leah Cruz in an interview Sunday. The group made their request to the Department of Agriculture on Friday. At present, local red onions sell at P75 to P80 per kilogram wholesale, while retail prices range from P90 to P130 per kg. The supply shortage is the result of an increasing number of local onions being rejected due to poor quality, from five to 10 percent of the output to as high as 30 percent, said Cruz. In August, VIEVA negotiated to bring in 9,100 MT of white onion after the DA approved the issuance of 182 permits, at 50 MT of white onion per permit. Cruz added that both farmers and sellers are concerned about the rise in smuggled onions. “If you see red onions priced below P70 per kg, those are smuggled onions. We are worried that whatever is left of the local onions produced will have to compete with smuggled onions in terms of prices...Their prices are way below break-even threshold. We will certainly lose,” she said. Farmers expect onion production in 2012 to decline by 12 percent to 2.77 million bags from 3.15 bags in 2011. — BM, GMA News