Uzbekistan lifts restrictions on onion exports

Uzbekistan has lifted restrictions on the export of onions, Turanews.kz reports citing the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan.

“From March 15, 2023, the government of Uzbekistan lifted the temporary restriction on onion exports due to price stabilization,” said the Ministry.

The Ministry of Agriculture had limited the export of onions from Uzbekistan at the end of January. The decision was intended to contain the rise in prices in the domestic market, which followed the abnormal weather on January 9-17. Restrictions were introduced for 4 months – until the end of April.

Due to frosts, a significant part of the onion stocks in the markets suffered. The amount of available vegetable stocks has decreased, which, combined with the rush demand, has caused prices to almost double in one week.

Neighboring countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan – banned the supply of onions abroad in January. As a result, the price of onions in Russia, which received part of its volumes from Central Asia, increased by 28.7% compared to last year and by almost 7% by the beginning of the year.

Kyrgyzstan introduced the ban on January 31 and lifted it on March 3, although it was supposed to remain in force until the end of April. Suppliers assured the government of the neighboring republic of sufficient stocks of products to supply the market.

Recall that the authorities of the country introduced a ban on the export of onions from January 1, 2023. This was due to the fact that large stocks of this agricultural product froze due to abnormal cold weather, as a result, prices for it rose sharply, and a significant amount of onion had to be imported to cover domestic demand.