It is price respite for gourmets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after India allowed back onion imports in March 2024. Limited onion shipments totaling 10,000 tonnes from India are currently taking place through the National Cooperative Exports Ltd (NCEL).
For now, Emirati importers have been taking advantage of low at-origin prices and these could in turn favor customers back home.
UAE’s importers are paying India’s farmers 12 to 15 rupees ($0.14-0.18) a kilo and selling at 120 rupees ($1.44). In its part, India is currently scrutinizing the issue of unfair pricing by foreign buyers on local farmers.
Despite this profiteering, UAE’s groceries are now offering an affordable retail price of 5.29 dirhams ($1.44) per kg. The price has been at 4.95 dirhams ($1.35) per kilo since December 2023.
In normal times, Emirati retail prices of onions hover around 3 dirhams ($0.82) per kilo, based on the January 2023 price.
Indeed, a survey shows that customers usually expect to pay between 2 and 3 dirhams ($0.54-0.82) for a kilo. This sometimes falls to as little as 1 dirham ($0.27) especially during discounted weekends and holidays.
The highest onion price in recent times has been in early 2024, at 7 dirhams ($1.91) a kilo.
With the easing of the export ban in March 2024, however, prices have been retracting in the UAE and Asia.
India enforced a 40% onion export tariff in August 2023 amid onion shortage, upon which prices skyrocketed in dependant nations.
In March 2024, India reopened its onion export market and shipped a consignment of 14,400 tonnes to the UAE. This was a part of 79,150-ton offer to regional trade allies including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Middle-eastern nations.
The UAE, for instance, relies on India for most of its onion supplies. In 2022, the country ranked 12th in global onion orders, with India providing half the supplies, equal to $71.2 million. The return to imports will definitely ease UAE’s onion prices and bring reprieve back to customers.