India Halts Red Onion Exports: What are the Import-Export Trends in Indonesia?

The world's onion king, India, halted exports of red onions to other countries in early December 2023. This policy was implemented to cool down domestic prices and meet its own national needs.

A Reuters report, as cited by India Today, suggests that the export ban may not be lifted before next year's Indian general elections.

Although red onion prices have fallen in India, the policy has triggered a surge in prices in several Asian countries. The United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Nepal, heavily reliant on Indian imports, are now struggling with domestic shortages.

So, what is the impact on Indonesia?

Currently, the Indonesian government has not yet confirmed the impact of India's red onion export ban.

However, a report from the Domestic Trade Research Center of the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) in February 2022 stated that Indonesian red onion production already meets domestic needs.

"Therefore, since December 2020, the Ministry of Trade has not issued import permits for red onions," wrote the Ministry of Trade in its report, *Analysis of Price Developments of Basic Food Commodities, Essential Goods, Modern Retail, and e-Commerce in the Domestic and International Markets*.

Sufficient domestic production has encouraged red onion exports.

The report shows that over the past eight years, Indonesia's highest red onion exports were recorded in 2019, at 8,665,422 kilograms (kg). The lowest was in 2016, at only 735,688 kg.

The latest data from 2021 shows 4,101,926 kg, while 2022 export figures are not included in the report.

Meanwhile, red onion imports reached their highest level in the last eight years in 2015, at 17,428,750 kg. However, import volumes have decreased in subsequent years, even reaching zero as shown in the graph.

(See also: Majalengka Became the Largest Red Onion Producer in West Java in 2022)