Cairo – Egypt‘s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly signed a decree banning the export of onions until the end of this year. The decision was taken to control the unprecedented surge in the price of the product on the domestic market, now between EGP 25 and EGP 30 (about USD 0.80 to USD 0.96 at the current rate) per kilogram, which was below EGP 10 (about USD 0.32) early this year.
Onions ranked third in Egypt’s agricultural export rankings between January and July 2023, with 351,899 tonnes shipped. First on the list were citrus fruits, with a total of 1.9 million tonnes, followed by potatoes, with 896,400 tonnes.
The president of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, Ayman El-Ashry, believes the decision will lead to lower prices on the market, especially as the new onion harvest approaches. According to him, the Chamber’s Vegetables and Fruits Division monitors trade movement in the markets in all sectors daily and makes reports on the latest events, commodity price levels and supply volumes.
The board chair and CEO of Frutella Food Industries, Ahmed Sarhan, who specializes in exporting agricultural products and citrus fruits, understands the government works, first and foremost, to give citizens access to products at reasonable prices. Climate change has been causing damage to crops. The onion harvest in India was damaged, with the country being the world’s leading product exporter.
He believes banning the export of onions will help halt the price hike in the local market and reduce prices slightly, but the impact will not be significant, as the export season is about to end and the volume sent abroad is low. Egypt’s onion export season runs from the second half of February until the end of the year —sales peak in May, June, and July.
Sarhan pointed out that the drop in onion production in Egypt this year affected the volume of supply and coincided with the increase in demand in international markets and the significant growth in agricultural costs for fertilizers, seeds, and labor, among other production costs.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
