The government is pushing to bring down the price of onions to P120 per kilo in time for the holidays, aiming to ease the financial burden on consumers amid high commodity costs.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa announced in a press briefing that nearly 35,000 metric tons (MT) of imported onions, both red and yellow varieties, have now reached the country as of mid-November.
“We’re expecting all imported onions to be delivered until December,” he said.
Deliveries of red onions are significantly behind schedule, with arrivals totaling 11,371.12 MT out of an expected 59,594 MT, or a delivery of 19 percent of the total.
Most red onion arrivals came in October, with 6,892.86 MT delivered, followed by February with 2,057.34 MT, the month with the highest fulfillment rate at 67 percent. November arrivals stood at 1,480.37 MT as of Nov. 13. September recorded one of the lowest inflows, with only 701.36 MT out of an expected 10,600 MT.
Yellow onion shipments have reached 23,596.40 MT out of an expected 37,819.04 MT, achieving a 62.39 percent delivery rate.
September posted the strongest performance in this category, with 10,000.49 MT arriving, amounting to 94.42 percent of the month’s expected volume. October also posted an overshoot, logging 3,747.81 MT against an expected 1,700 MT.
January recorded an unusual spike, with arrivals reaching 2,284.70 MT, more than six times the expected volume.
Utilization of SPS ICs for yellow onions was also significantly higher at 72 percent, with 494 out of 682 approved clearances already used.
However, arrivals slowed in November, with yellow onion inflows at 920.61 MT against the expected 3,600 MT as of Nov. 13.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier proposed the reimposition of the maximum suggested retail price on onions to curb possible overpricing and profiteering by retailers.
