Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Ukraine: melon and watermelon imports reach record high
Lower production and high prices of melons and watermelons have backed record their high imports in Ukraine, according to Fruit-Inform.
In the first 9 months of 2017, Ukraine imported 650 tons of melons, 3.5 times as high as in the same period of the previous year. Watermelon imports grew 13 times and totaled 958 tons, against just 74 tons in January-September 2016.
Such a sharp rise in imports is connected with a significant fall in melon and watermelon production in Ukraine due to abnormally hot weather in the second half of summer. In addition, a rise in imports was backed by record high prices of domestic products. We would remind you that prices were rapidly growing in Ukraine since the beginning of August. As a result, prices reached record high in the end of summer, and Ukrainian farmers shipped their watermelons at prices 6.3 times as high as a year before.