Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukrainian apple season failure: prices reach 6-year low
Ukrainian growers are now forced to ship apples at prices, which are the lowest over the past 6 years, according to Fruit-Inform.
Apples are now sold at UAH 4-9/kg (EUR 0.14-0.32/kg), depending on variety, quality and shipment volume, just a third of prices registered in the same period of the previous season.
Such a negative price trend is registered despite the fact that Ukraine's apple imports have reached 10-year low: just 17,100 tons in July 2015 – April 2016, a decrease of 69% year-on-year due to the devaluation of the Ukrainian hryvnia, which has resulted in a sharp rise in prices of imported produce in Ukraine.
In addition, the supply of domestic apples is now rather abundant in the country. We would remind you that Ukrainian apple production in 2015 was the second largest over the past 5 years, and growers faced rather serious problems with sales of their apples. Furthermore, Ukraine's apple exports have reached all-year low due to the ban on imports of Ukrainian fruits and vegetables introduced by the Russian Federation, previously the main importer of apples of Ukrainian origin. Moreover, shipments to Russia through Crimean are also impossible. As a result, Ukrainian growers are forced to sell their apples only in the internal market, which demand is extremely low now.
More detailed information about the Eastern European market for fresh and processing apples is available in the fundamental study «Apple Business in Ukraine, Russia & Kazakhstan — 2015: Present Situation and Prospects in Growing, Storage, Handling, Processing and Marketing». To learn more about it, please contact International Relations Department of Fruit-Inform:
tel: +380 562 320795 (ext. - 341)
cell: +380 96 5836323 (Ievgen Kuzin)