Ukraine continues to expand the geographical reach of its fresh onion exports.

Romania remains the main market for these vegetables, with almost 2,000 tonnes of produce shipped there every month. Moldova remains in second place in terms of export volumes. Significant consignments of Ukrainian onions are also being sent to Bulgaria, Austria and Montenegro.

In January 2024, the first wholesale consignments of fresh onions from Ukraine were also exported to the UK market, reports ProAgro Group, citing EastFruit. This destination is unusual for onion exports from Ukraine, but it is very promising, especially in seasons such as this one, when there is a shortage of onions in Europe.

There are currently plenty of reasons to expand onion exports from Ukraine. Prices are currently at one of their lowest levels – around $0.31 per kg. Furthermore, Ukrainian onions are now sold at significantly lower prices than onions in EU countries or Moldova. Even in Poland, which, thanks to massive onion imports from Russia, has the lowest onion prices in the EU, onion prices are on average 40% higher than in Ukraine.

The difference in wholesale onion prices between Ukraine and the Netherlands – the EU’s largest onion exporter – is now almost double, which opens up opportunities for further expansion of export markets.