Nepal turns to China for onions after Indian ban

Nepal turns to China for onions after Indian ban
Workers select good onions from a pile of onion imported from India at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market. POST FILE PHOTO
Workers select good onions from a pile of onion imported from India at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market. POST FILE PHOTO
Published 21 December 2019

 

KATHMANDU (The Kathmandu Post/ANN) - Chinese onions cost less than the smuggled Indian onions, according to traders.

Kathmandu's vegetable markets are not shedding tears over the loss of onion shipments from India. The traders have quickly turned north to fulfil the demand for the essential cooking ingredient, the price of which has risen steeply in the past few months after India imposed a ban on exports, triggering frantic buying and resultant shortages.

Chinese onions started flowing into Kathmandu’s markets almost immediately after supply from India ceased. Traders say that if the trend continues, the fiery red bulbs could make the list of largest imports from across the Himalaya.

In fiscal 2018-19, Nepal bought goods worth Rs917 billion from India, accounting for 64.7 percent of total imports. Nepal's imports from China were valued at Rs205 billion, accounting for 14.5 percent of imports.

India slapped a ban on onion exports in September to maintain domestic availability, causing severe shortages over Asia, including Nepal.

Smugglers jumped to take advantage of the embargo, and they started slipping the vegetable into the country through the leaky Nepal-India border. The price of contraband onions hit a new high of Rs250 per kg in the Kathmandu Valley, costing the same as chicken meat.

The statistics of the Customs Department show that Nepal imported 823 tonnes of Chinese onions worth Rs42.26 million through the Rasuwagadhi border point in the last two months. Onion imports from China during the same period last year were zero.

The customs value of Chinese onions is Rs50 per kg, but the price swells to Rs195 per kg by the time they reach the customer in Kathmandu at the end of the supply chain. Smuggled onions from India cost Rs225 per kg, according to multiple traders with whom the Post spoke. Nepal is fully dependent on imported onions.

Binaya Shrestha, deputy director at the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee, said that the reason behind the high price of Chinese onions was transportation costs. “It takes more than a week for the commodity to arrive in Kathmandu from China,” Shrestha said.

According to him, domestic traders are complaining that they are not getting much profit by selling Chinese onions.

Onion trader Anil KC, who used to sell Indian onions until a few months ago, has been selling Chinese vegetables following unexpected demand. KC says he gets Chinese onions from his supplier at Rs120-160 per kg, depending on the quality.