Brazil onion exports plunge 72% in August

In August, Brazilian onion exports totaled nearly 4,000 tonnes, a volume 70% higher than in July but 72% lower than the shipments recorded in the same month of 2024 (close to 14,000 tonnes), according to Comex Stat. The main destinations were Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, with sales coming primarily from Goiás, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. The drop in shipments is directly linked to reduced Argentine demand, since volumes to Paraguay remained similar.

In 2024, particularly in the first half of the year, Brazil imported a substantial quantity of Argentine onions. Between January and June of last year, imports reached nearly 250,000 tonnes, more than 72% of which came from Argentina. At that time, Brazil had a very low supply and high prices.

In the second half of 2024, however, with higher productivity in Brazilian regions and lower prices, Argentine buyers increased purchases of Brazilian onions. They expected to capitalize in the same way in 2025, and almost all producing regions in Argentina expanded their planted areas; however, since Brazil’s production was also significant, imported volumes dropped sharply.

As a result, the total volume of onions purchased by Argentina from Brazil decreased from more than 11,000 tonnes in August 2024 to approximately 430,000 kilograms this year, representing a 96% decline.

Shipments to Paraguay are at typical levels, temporarily helping to alleviate the oversupply of Brazilian onions, but still insufficient to address the national problem.

Fonte: HF Brasil

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