Shipment curbs to hurt Onion exports by over 28%

New Delhi : India's onion export this fiscal is set to fall by more than 28% to 1.4 million tonne (mt) from 1.8 mt in 2012-13. This sharp fall is mainly attributed to curbs on exports put by the Government in the August - November period last year for improving domestic supply.

According to official data, the country exported more than 1.3 mt of onions till middle of March and in the last two weeks of current fiscal, more than one lakh tonne of the key agricultural commodity would be shipped.

The total value of onions exported in April-March 2014 had been more than Rs 3,000 crore. India, the second-largest onion producer in the world, had shipped 1.8 million tonne of onions, worth of Rs 2,294 crore, in 2012-13.

“Export curb imposed last year pulled down the overall shipment of onion from the country,” a Nafed official said. However, with an expectation of a bumper summer crop, which caters to about 50% to 60% of the domestic demand, exports are expected to increase in next fiscal, the official said.

Source : dailyshippingtimes.com