Their biggest market hit, Bangladesh crisis has onion exporters worried

Bangladesh, before India’s ban on onion exports kicked in last year, used to import 6-7 lakh tonnes of the blub annually from India.

Written by Parthasarathi Biswas

Pune | August 6, 2024 09:03 PM IST

2 min read

In the present turmoil, many exporters might have stopped trade temporarily, but markets in Bangladesh seem to be squeezing out Indian onions anyway. (File)

Onion exporters in India are a worried lot following the political developments in Bangladesh — their biggest market. Onion exports to Bangladesh were already on a slide due to steep export duty and Minimum Export Price (MEP), eroding share in a market which used to account for almost 24 per cent of India’s onion exports. The political turmoil has only compounded the dismal state of India’s onion exports to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, before India’s ban on onion exports kicked in last year, used to import 6-7 lakh tonnes of the blub annually from India. India annually exports 25-26 lakh tonnes of the bulb globally. But exports have drastically dipped since last year’s ban. Although the ban has since been lifted, the high export duty of 40 per cent and MEP of $550 per tonne has dampened onion exports.

While Bangladesh was one of the countries which was exempted from the ban later, the high export duty and MEP, exporters said, have made Indian onions non-viable in the former’s markets. Exporters said the ban for the better part of last year had made Bangladesh rely on other countries like Pakistan and Turkey. At present, onions from Pakistan command a price $100/tonne less than Indian onions. “The argument for a long time was that Indian onions taste better and thus people won’t like onions from other countries but that does not seem to be the case now,” said an exporter.

In the present turmoil, many exporters might have stopped trade temporarily, but markets in Bangladesh seem to be squeezing out Indian onions anyway. Exporters said given the logistics, onions from Pakistan were always a second preference for Bangladesh, but now onions from Pakistan have pushed the Indian bulb out of its markets.

Ajit Shah, president of the Onion Exporters’ Association of India, urged the government to lift the export duty. “Kharif planting has been good and later this year we will have a good crop. Export duty should be lifted so that exports can resume to keep prices stable later on,” he said.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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