The beginning of the crisis was at the end of last September, when the price exceeded 25 pounds per kilogram for the first time in Egypt’s history, which prompted the government at the time to issue a decision to stop the export of this commodity, which is a main ingredient in most Egyptians’ foods, for a period of 3 months.
Indeed, prices have calmed down somewhat, and declined over the past two months to less than 20 pounds per kilogram, but with the expiration of the previous decision to stop exports approaching on December 31, the price has jumped insanely to the point that it has prompted Egyptians to search for alternatives and resort, for example, to cooking with green onions.
The government, for its part, decided to extend the decision to stop exports for another 3 months, ending at the end of next March, with the start of harvesting the new crop, as well as to increase the penalty for monopolizing and concealing goods.
the reasons
For his part, the head of the onion research department at the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, Abdel Majeed Mabrouk Abu Dahab, said in a statement to Sky News Arabia that the reason for the rise in onion prices is “the decrease in the area cultivated with this strategic crop last season, as a result of the decline in the price of onions before the season.” In the past, the price of a ton was only less than a thousand pounds.”
He also explained that “among the reasons for the rise in prices are the climate changes that affected Egypt, as well as its competing countries, and the monopolistic practices of merchants and some exporters looking for gain from monopoly and concealment of goods.”
Mabrouk predicted that “the measures taken by the state will lead to a decrease in prices, and the cultivated area will also increase for the new season, and then average prices will return to their previous era, especially since Egypt is a self-sufficient country in onions.”
The government official explained that “the area planted with onions for the 2022/2023 season amounted to about 219 thousand acres and produced 3.3 million tons.”
He noted that “Egypt occupies fourth to fifth place among the top 10 onion producing and exporting countries due to the superiority of Egyptian varieties and the nature of its climate, as Egyptian onions are exported to more than 50 foreign and Arab countries.”
The only option
He stressed that Egypt used to export huge quantities of onions annually before all these problems appeared, and the real crisis lies in the fact that many merchants, since the decision to stop exports was issued, have stored onions and starved the market in the hope of exporting them at a high price after the expiration of the decision period.
He concluded that with the extension of the decision, there is no way for the monopolists, except to put the onions stored in them on the markets at their normal low prices, otherwise they will spoil, especially since the new crop will begin to be harvested at the end of the decision period.
2023-12-15 09:13:53
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