Washington:
Jason Walker, vice president of sales at Bybee Produce in Prosser, said on Nov. 4 that market demand is “flat right now.” He said he expects it to pick up for the holidays, and he added that reds are still strong and pricing steady. Jason also said he is “seeing very good quality in packing.”
IEO:
Lisa Atagi, president of Under the Onion Inc. in Ontario, OR, told OnionBusiness.com that the market has been quiet since PMA and remained quiet the first part of this week.
“Things should start picking up for Thanksgiving,” Lisa said. “And it should happen quickly.” She said it’s favorable that “there is not pressure to lower price so the market is steady.”
Lisa said from her vantage point, “The shippers are doing a good job to make sure the quality is on target and any quality issues are being cleaned up at shed level.”
Also from IEO, Grant Kitamura, president, and Chris Woo, vice president of Murakami Produce Co. in Ontario, OR, told us that the IEO region “is almost 1,300 loads ahead of last year at this time.” Grower/shippers experienced ideal harvest and storage weather, they said.
They also said that price levels “are very good, especially whites and reds.” On Nov. 4 they said jumbo yellows were at $7.50 to $8.00 per 50# bag fob; large reds at $14.50 per 25# bag fob; jumbo whites at $12.00 to $13.00 per 50# bag.
Murakami was seeing moderate demand, but they “expect good upcoming holiday business,” and they said, “We anticipate higher markets this winter and next spring as statistical reports indicate much lower stocks on hand for the U.S. than prior years.”
Colorado:
Western Slope storage onions “are rockin’ and rollin’,” according to Don Ed Holmes of Onion House. Don Ed said onion movement out of both Western Colorado and Utah is brisk, and Colorado will run into January. “Utah will go into early February,” he said.
Front Range onions at Sakata Farms are all in storage now, and Bob Sakata said “quality is outstanding.” Normal shipping season is into spring. The longtime onion man said he sees quality issues in the Northwest keeping prices down.
