India’s onion exports to West Asia ground to a halt on Sunday after major ports across the region shut operations, forcing shipping lines to suspend vessel movements and leaving consignments stranded at origin.
The disruption comes at the peak Ramadan shipping window, when overseas demand surges about 30%, amplifying the risk of a domestic glut just as farmers in northern Maharashtra, the country’s key onion-growing and export hub, are protesting subdued prices. West Asia accounts for about 15% of India’s onion exports, making the sudden freeze a blow to traders and growers already grappling with weak realisations.
India's onion exports had plunged more than 50% in 2024-25 to about 1.15 million tonnes from the peak of 2.52 million tonnes in 2022-23. In the ongoing financial year, exports touched 1.13 million tonnes during April-December. At a time when export of onions to Bangladesh, which used to account for 45% of India's total onion exports, have fallen to negligible levels, the Ramadan demand from West Asia was helpful for the country’s onion growers.
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