Tajikistan has produced about 420,000 tons of onions this year so far, which is more than 50 percent of onion crop grown in the country last year. Last year, Tajikistan produced more than 700,000 tons of onions.
Over the first six months of this year, a significant increase in prices for onions has bene observed all over the world. In Tajikistan, onion prices have peaked in March-June – 8.00 somonis per kilogram.
Experts noted that price hike had resulted from the reduction in sown areas, the increase in exports and the end of the stock of onions in warehouses.
Tajikistan is not a major exporter of onions on a global scale, but uses the opportunity to supply early onions to foreign countries.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan has currently restricted onion exports, and export prices have fallen since during the summer period, the main exporting countries increased the volumes of their products.
Expert say onion prices are expected to fall in July-October.
Current average price onions in Tajikistan is 4.00-5.00 somonis per kilogram and price may go down further, but price trends will largely depend on onion harvest volumes in 2022.
According to data from the Export Development Agency, Tajikistan has exported about 66,000 tons of onions over the first six months of this year, which is 18,000 tons or 22.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year (In January-June last year, Tajikistan exported 83,000 tons of onions).
Meanwhile, specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture say that compared to the first six months of last year, revenues from onion sales in January-June this year have increased by 36 percent – from 4.7 million US dollars to 6.6 million US dollars.
According to atlasbig.com, Tajikistan stands in the second place globally in terms of annual production of onions per capita, following the Netherlands – more than 65 kilograms. The only downside is the high cost of onions due to the high cost of fertilizers and fuel.
Tajikistan exports onions primarily to Russia and Kazakhstan. And export prices for onions are much higher in countries of the European Union (on average more than 2.00 US dollars per kilogram) and South-East Asia (on average more than 3.00 US dollars per kilogram in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia).
