India exported 2,51,000 tonnes of onion in the first two months of the current financial year, down 40% on year, according to an official at the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed).
“In value terms also, exports declined sharply to Rs 258 crore in Apr-May,” the official said.
In Apr-May 2009, the country exported onions worth Rs 391 crore government data showed.
Exports were down due to high minimum export prices (MEP) in the early part of the year that diverted demand to other countries in general and Pakistan in particular, the official said.
To curtail rising domestic prices of onion, the government increased onion MEP to above $500 a tonne early March from around $200 in November.
However, MEP was cut in phases from mid-March to around $200 for the current month, due to ample stocks of the crop.
“The exports may pick up again in the coming months in volume terms, but the realization is unlikely to match last year’s data due to likely higher output this year,” the official added. The export realization in the first two months, however, was better than last year at Rs 11.70 a kg in April and Rs 9.20 in May, as against Rs 10 in April 2009 and Rs 8 in May 2009, the government data showed.
