In 2019, South Africa's onion export increased significantly by 21% and it was more profitable to export onions compared to the export value of 2018. At the same time, Ekurhuleni and West Rand have export values that have increased significantly in comparison with the export values of the previous year. During 2016, the export value of onion to the city of Johannesburg increased, while the West Rand and Ekurhuleni export values also increased significantly.
The onion export value of the city of Johannesburg grew slightly by 0.4% in 2019, Ekurhuleni and the city of Tshwane's export value rose by 81%. In the same year, Ethekwini export value increased significantly compared to the 2012 export value, while Uthungulu contributed to the KwaZulu Natal onion export value. During 2014, Ugu was still the main contributor in onion exports from KwaZulu Natal, but the export value further decreased by 9%.
In 2015, the total export value of onions from the Eastern Cape was less than last year. In 2012, Northern Cape exported onions through Frances Baard, and the export value has decreased significantly compared to the export value of 2011. At the same time, the export value of Xhariep has decreased significantly compared to last year's export value.
In the same year, the export value of Fezila Dubai slightly increased compared to the export value in 2015.
Share analysis
The City of Cape Town's export share fell to 72.81% during 2019 and the Cape Winelands commanded a 27.18% share of the Western Cape's onion export share. In the same year, the export share of the city of Tshwane has decreased significantly compared to the export share of 2012. The city of Johannesburg has continued to command high shares in Gauteng provincial onion exports and in 2015, it commanded 68.17% and the export share of Ekurhuleni has decreased from 13.74% to 5.68%.
As of 2018, the onion export share of the City of Johannesburg increased slightly to 88.38%, Ekurhuleni had a 5.11% share, while the export share of the City of Tshwane decreased to 6.51%. During 2016, Ethekwini export share decreased slightly to 77.92%, while Ugu had a notable 22.08% share of KwaZulu Natal onion export share. During 2015 Alfred Nzo increased its onion export share to 88.06% and Nelson Mandela Bay export share to.
As of 2017, Namakwa continues to dominate the Northern Cape's export share with a 100% share. In 2019, Namakwa controlled 89.34% of Northern Cape onion exports, while Siyanda's export share increased to 10.66%. In 2011 and 2013, Ngaka Modiri Molema controlled 100% of onion exports, but in 2012 the province recorded no onion trade.
In 2014, export share for Ngaka Modiri Molema dropped from 100% to 2.48% and Bojanala export share held 97.42% of North West provincial onion exports. Bojanala achieved a share of 87.66% and Dr Kenneth Kaunda recorded a share of 7.31% of the Free State export share. During 2017, Bojanala continued to achieve a high onion export share by achieving a share of 98.10% and Ngaka Modiri Molema's export share grew slightly to 1.69%.
In 2019, Ngaka Modiri Molema onion export share increased by 50.17% and Bojanala registered a 49.82% share of Free State onion export. In 2013, Waterberg achieved the largest export share of 75.92% and Capricorn's export share decreased noticeably to 19.18%. In the same year, Vhembe export share dropped drastically to 3.80%, compared to the 2012 export share.
South Africa’s onion imports
In 2010, South Africa's onion imports were sourced from Africa, Europe, and imports from Asia were less significant. In the following year (2012), the Africa region continued to be the main supplier of South Africa's onion imports. At the same time, South Africa has imported a remarkable amount of onions from the Asia region.
During 2016, the African region continued to be the primary supplier of South Africa's onion imports, followed by Europe and Asia. As of 2018, Africa region, followed by Europe and Asia regions was the source of South Africa's onion imports. In 2010, South Africa imported large quantities of onions from East African countries (Kenya) and North Africa (Egypt).
In 2014, Namibia supplied 53.8% of South Africa's onion imports, while Kenya supplied 16.1% of onion imports. In 2015, the SACU region (Namibia) remained the main supplier of South African onion imports, followed by the Northern region (Egypt) and East Africa (Kenya). In 2017, Namibia was still by far the most important supplier of South African onion imports with a share of 72.3% and Egypt accounted for 14% of imports.
As of 2018, the SACU country (Namibia with 70.6%) was still the main supplier of South African onion imports, Egypt supplying 3.3%. In 2019, SACU countries remained the main source of South African onion imports from the African region, followed by North Africa and East Africa. As of 2017, East Asia (China) was the sole supplier of South African onion imports from Asia.
East Asia was still the primary source of South Africa's onion imports from the Asia region, but the import volume decreased by 31% compared to the 2018 import volume. In 2015, South Africa imported a large amount of onions from the UK and the Netherlands. The Netherlands, Spain and France were the main suppliers of South Africa's onion imports from the Europe region in 2019.
Processing
In 2016, the United Kingdom was the main supplier of onions from Europe, followed by France, while onion imports from the Netherlands were negligible. In 2017, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom remained the main suppliers of onion imports from the European region. As of 2018, South Africa sourced onions from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom, while imports from France were negligible.
The onion value chain can be broken down into the following levels: the producers of onions (farmers); warehouse owners clean, grade and quality control); cold storage and transport facilities store and transport onions on behalf of farmers); dealers in onions (marketing and selling onions);
MARKET INTELLIGENCE 1 Tariffs
Non-tariff barriers .1 The European Union
- The United States
- Asian Market Access
Non-tariff barriers can be divided into those that are mandatory and defined in the EU. There is a range of EU legislation that regulates the quality of products that can be imported, marketed and sold within the EU. EU marketing standards, which regulate the quality and labeling of vegetables, are defined in the framework of the CAP according to regulation EC 2200/96.
These regulations include diameter, weight and class specifications, and any products not meeting these standards will not be allowed to be sold on EU markets (detailed lists of products and their standards can be found in the annexes to the directive). The EU has set its own specific rules in EC 2002/89, which try to prevent EU crops from coming into contact with harmful organisms from elsewhere in the world. The core of the directive is that it authorizes the Plant Protection Service to inspect a large number of plant products upon arrival in the EU.
This inspection consists of a physical examination of a consignment deemed to have a level of phytosanitary risk, the identification of any harmful organisms and the validation of any phytosanitary certificates covering the consignment. If the cargo does not comply, it may not enter the EU, although some organisms may be fumigated at the expense of the exporter. The EU Commission sets rules for materials that come into contact with food and that may endanger human health or bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of food products.
While supplying vegetables that comply with these issues may not be mandatory in a legal sense, they are becoming increasingly important in Europe and cannot be ignored by existing or potential exporters. i). Social responsibility is becoming important in the industry, not only among consumers, but also for retailers and wholesalers. The largest sellers in the EU also play an important role in dealing with environmental issues, which means exporters need to take these into account when negotiating export agreements. ii) Environmental issues are becoming increasingly important to European consumers.
The European Commission has recently adopted the EU label to label foods produced in accordance with EU organic standards in Directive EEC 209/91. Japan's agricultural sector is heavily protected, with calculations by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimating that nearly 60% of the value of Japanese agricultural production comes from trade barriers or domestic subsidies. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to trading with Japan in vegetable markets is its strict phytosanitary requirements, which have often been challenged by the World Trade Organization as having little or no scientific basis.
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Other measures being challenged include Japan's use of fumigation on agricultural produce when cosmopolitan pests (already found in Japan) are detected.
LOGISTICAL ISSUES 1 Mode of transport
COMPETITIVENESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN ONION EXPORTS
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES 1 Opportunities
Challenges
INDUSTRY NEW DEVELOPMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
