Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Polish tomato exports down
Despite a substantial increase in Polish tomato exports to the EU in 2017, total export volumes of tomatoes from Poland have gone down, reports FreshMarket with reference to the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS).
The official data show Spain and the UK to have increased imports from Poland by 15% and 42%, respectively, each importing about 8,400 tons of Polish tomatoes in the first three quarters of 2017. Exports to Germany went up by 32% and totaled 5,000 tons, Italy bought 4,000 tons of Polish tomatoes (twice as high as in the same period of the previous year), and exports to Portugal increased by 60% reaching 2,400 tons.
Nevertheless, total exports of Polish tomatoes were 6% lower year-over-year: 68,000 tons against 72,000 tons in January-September 2016. An increase in exports to the EU was unable to compensate lower shipments to Belarus, still the main importer of Polish tomatoes. In January-September 2017, Belarusian importers purchased just 15,000 tons of tomatoes from Poland, a fall of 41% year-over-year.