Onion Oversupply Prompts Government to Promote Exports to Taiwan and Other Markets

Aiming to Stabilize Domestic Supply

As the supply of onions has increased due to favorable growing conditions and prices have plummeted, the government has decided to promote exports to help control supply and demand.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on May 20 that it would actively promote onion exports as a supply control measure, as the per-area yield of the 2026 onion crop has increased significantly, resulting in continued oversupply.

A Ministry official explained, "In the past, there has been a tendency for onion exports to increase when domestic onion production rises," adding, "This export support program is designed to move away from simply offloading lower-grade onions and instead serve as a catalyst for exporting high-quality fresh domestic onions."

To enable swift exports, the ministry plans to provide support for sorting and other expenses for onions secured by agricultural cooperatives and distribution corporations with export experience. Given price competitiveness, the main export markets are expected to be Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Kang Sunwook, head of Hamyang Agricultural Cooperative, which has experience in onion exports, said, "Considering current domestic onion prices, if some support is provided, Korean onions can be sufficiently competitive in Taiwan."

The ministry plans to significantly expand export volumes in cooperation with Nonghyup Agribusiness Group if overseas market demand is confirmed through this export initiative. Research projects are also underway to enhance the competitiveness of high-quality onions to support this effort.

Seo Junhan, Director of Distribution and Consumption Policy at the ministry, stated, "To stabilize the domestic supply of onions, a total of 368 hectares of early-harvest onions without storability have been completely isolated from the market, and we are also considering expanding government purchases and reserves of mid-to-late varieties, as well as launching major campaigns to boost consumption." He added, "We urge agricultural cooperatives and distribution corporations in production areas to actively participate in shipment control, such as refraining from mass shipments for the time being."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.