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February 2, 2025 | 12:00am
Red onions stored in cold storages nationwide as of Jan. 17 were estimated at around 8,500 metric tons while yellow onion stocks stood at 1,628.4 MT, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s current onion stocks are projected to last until this week but harvest is expected to begin soon that would lift nationwide supplies to tide over the first quarter.
Red onions stored in cold storages nationwide as of Jan. 17 were estimated at around 8,500 metric tons while yellow onion stocks stood at 1,628.4 MT, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
The BPI estimated that red onion supplies would only last until Feb. 1 while yellow onion stocks would be depleted within the week, based on the country’s average daily consumption of the spices.
But the BPI projected that newly harvested stocks are expected to be stored this quarter.
The agency estimated that about 40,334 MT of locally produced red onions would be in cold storage until the end of March. The projected additional stocks would ensure that the country would have red onions for at least 83 days or until April 10, according to the BPI.
For yellow onions, around 19,450 MT are expected to be produced and be in cold storages within the quarter. Furthermore, the BPI projected that about 2,514 MT of imported yellow onions were expected to arrive as of Jan. 16.
In total, the BPI projected that the country’s yellow onion stocks would last for 161 days or until June 27.
The drop in red onion stocks could be attributed to some traders unloading more supplies last month because of the fear that they would spoil or sprout new bulbs as they are stored beyond six months already, according to industry sources.
They noted that onions could only be stored for up to six months. The red onion industry faced an unfamiliar logistical concern last year since the country had more than enough stocks to meet its demand for the first time in recent history due to bumper harvest.
This, sources said, posed storage concerns for traders as some of the stocks could be staying in cold storages longer than ideal duration.
This was evident in the initial supply and demand projections made by the BPI earlier last year that red onion stocks of the country would even last until the middle of March this year.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) did not permit any red onion importation last year due to ample stocks that kept retail prices of the commodity relatively stable throughout the year at a price range of P70 to P150 per kilo.
However, retail prices of red onions have slowly increased at the start of this year with the latest price monitoring report by the DA showing that the spice is now ranging between P140 and P200 per kilo in Metro Manila markets.
