Trackberry

Season calendar

Onion export season by country

When Egypt, China and India ship onions, month by month, and why the arrival date is negotiable on almost every one of them.

Available all year, peak March–September, from Egypt, China and India. The rest of the year is shoulder supply rather than a gap.

Onion export calendar: which origin ships in which month.
Origin January February March April May June July August September October November December
Egypt January: Not shipping February: Shoulder March: Peak April: Peak May: Peak June: Peak July: Shoulder August: Not shipping September: Not shipping October: Not shipping November: Not shipping December: Not shipping
China January: Not shipping February: Not shipping March: Shoulder April: Peak May: Peak June: Peak July: Peak August: Shoulder September: Shoulder October: Not shipping November: Not shipping December: Not shipping
India January: Shoulder February: Shoulder March: Shoulder April: Peak May: Peak June: Peak July: Peak August: Peak September: Peak October: Shoulder November: Shoulder December: Shoulder
Peak — shipping in volume Shoulder — opening or closing Export windows out of the origin, not arrival weeks. Add the lane's transit.

Last reviewed August 2026. Windows are editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule, and they are export weeks out of the origin rather than arrival weeks in your market.

Onions are a storage crop sold on timing rather than on freshness, and three origins between them keep the year covered. Egypt and China ship through the Northern Hemisphere spring and early summer, into the gap between European harvests; India ships more or less continuously on three harvests a year.

They cure before they ship and then keep for months in the right conditions, which makes onions one of the very few things on this calendar where a delay is a commercial problem and not a quality one. That is also why nobody watches these containers, and why they are disproportionately the ones sitting at a terminal accruing charges. The exception is India, where the risk is not the voyage at all: onion exports there have repeatedly been restricted or banned at short notice when the domestic price rises.

Egypt

March–June peak · February, July shoulder Load ports: Alexandria, Damietta, and Port Said

Roughly February to July, into the gap between European harvests. Like the potatoes, this is a storage crop sold on timing.

Egypt onion: window and arrival weeks · Everything Egypt ships

China

April–July peak · March, August–September shoulder Load ports: Qingdao, Shanghai, and Shenzhen

Roughly April to July, into the gap between the Northern Hemisphere’s stored crop running out and its new one being lifted. The volume goes to Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea on short lanes.

China onion: window and arrival weeks · Everything China ships

India

April–September peak · October–March shoulder Load ports: Nhava Sheva, Mundra, and Chennai

Effectively year-round on three harvests. The rabi crop lifted from March cures and carries exports through the middle of the year; the kharif crop from October covers the rest, which is why the shoulder band below is every remaining month.

India onion: window and arrival weeks · Everything India ships

FAQ

When are onions in season?
Onions are at peak March–September, shipping from Egypt, China, and India. They are still available in October–February, on the shoulder of those windows rather than in volume.
Which countries export onions?
Egypt, China, and India. These are export weeks out of the origin, not arrival weeks in your market — add the lane's transit on top.

Importing onion? Trackberry tracks those containers and reads the paperwork that arrives with them, in one place. See how it works for produce importers, or book a 20-minute chat.

The same origins also ship

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